


Escapestuck

by tatalati



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia, F/M, MSPARP, Roleplay, escapestuck, transcript
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-01-17 11:22:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 79,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1385797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatalati/pseuds/tatalati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When legislacerator Pyrope is found guilty of an atrocious crime and is sentenced to the gallows, Karkat, head threshecutioner, simply refuses to let her hang; he can't live with being the one who has to cut the rope sending her to her death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Flight - Act I, scene i

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction is actually the transcript of several months of roleplaying, co-written by [Sarah](mind8angarang.tumblr.com.). It has not been changed from it's original form, however it has been edited for typographical errors among many things. Please bare with us, because the story gets quite interesting later on. It has been kept in it's original format (and color coded) for your convenience.
> 
> Art by [Peregr1ne](http://peregr1ne.tumblr.com)  
> (Illustrations will be added along the way, after I've posted the chapters. Please bear with us. Our artist can only work so fast.)

GC: Her hands bound tightly above her, Terezi hung in the cold dungeon, her feet just barely touching the ground. Her position as head legislator had been revoked by none other than the Grand Highblood himself. Pardoning a lowblood accused of treason hadn’t amused him, even though Terezi was sure the troll was innocent. Either way, she had landed herself in the royal dungeon of the Condesce, waiting for her own trial. Heaving a sigh, she squirmed in an attempt to rub some life back into her aching limbs, only making her wrists and shoulders hurt more. It was pointless to keep trying, but she didn’t want to totally give up. She would be able to stand her own ground in court, wouldn’t she? Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard approaching footsteps echoing outside the dungeon. Terezi bowed her head, refusing to acknowledge whomever it was when they came in.

CG: As opposed to the simple uniform of a dungeon guard, the person who walked in was dressed in a somewhat more prestigious attire, sporting the armor and dress of a Threshecutioner. The head Threshecutioner, actually, as fate would have it. He was accompanied by a guard, but only just so he could unlock the door for him, the Threshecutioner dismissing him a moment later. The guard hesitated but left anyway. He watched him go, waiting until he was certain it was just them before walking in and up to the former legislacerator. A while ago the actual shade of his eyes had been covered by a pair of friend-made-so-he-didn't-die contacts as a much needed precaution, but she'd be able to recognize him regardless. "And exactly what the fuck were you thinking?"

GC: A weak grin slowly spread across her face as she peered blindly over the top of her glasses at the troll before her. "Well, well, look who showed up to chastise me on account of staying true to the law." Leaning forward to get a good sniff of him, Terezi wrinkled her nose. "Your eyes smell weird," was all she commented before a smirk found its way back onto her face and she relaxed in her shackles.

CG: "Terezi..." He bit his tongue, accusations and questions crowding up his thinkpan, clustering and make it harder for him to keep his voice level. "I'll reiterate. What were you _thinking_? That pardoning treason like that would just slip by fucking unceremoniously? You're- you were the head legislacerator and you thought they'd let someone like you _allow_ someone to hop off scotch-free when they committed treason. You realize how stupid that was, right?"

GC: "I don't care how stupid it was. You know my morals, Karkat. I can't just put an innocent troll to death. So what if I have to trade my life for it? I absolutely refuse." She sighed, turning her face away from him in defeat. "If you just came here to tell me how wrong I was to do something so 'stupid', you can just leave. I'm not in the mood."

CG: "... I'm supposed to be there for your trial. I cut your noose at the end of the ceremony, should they find you guilty and sentence you to that." He stared at her, trying to catch her look again. "So fucking pardon me if I'm a little, just a _little_ upset that you've decided now is as good a time as any to die for your morals and go 'so what'."

GC: She tensed up, shaking her head slowly. "Well there's nothing either of us can do, so I'm sorry, but this is how it's happening. It would be in your best interest to stop caring about me and put your work before anything else. I'm very sorry, Karkat, I truly am, both for you and for myself, but this is how it has to be." Pursing her lips, she continued quietly. "Besides, I'd rather die by your hand than by anyone else's."

CG: "It would have been in _your_ best interest if you had just..." His throat worked a little, having a harder time forming and letting out words. "... What was the act of treason? What couldn't you allow them to be charged for? What the fuck are you being put on trial for pardoning?" He crossed his arms, looking up at her, a shaky anger and what could only be grief coming out as just a strained tone with him.

GC: "Rebellion." She cleared her throat, her voice serious and business-like. "They were suspected of starting a rebellion in a nearby city. Of course when the facts were checked, it became obvious that the outburst was staged by a high official hoping to seek more power and become closer to Her Imperial Condescension." She frowned, beginning to sound desperate. "The troll accused was innocent. He was just a kid... How could I just let him die?"

CG: If he had more conviction he would've spat out an "easily" at her, but his tongue wasn't working right and to be honest... He didn't think he had what he needed to say it and actually _mean_ it. He sighed, his shoulders slumping, him seeming to deflate. The frustration in his chest was sparking, faltering, giving way to something more somber. More resigned. "They didn't let him walk though, did they? They're putting you on your own damn trial so you just..."

GC: She finished the sentence for him, putting as much determination as she could into her faltering voice. "So I'll just have to defend myself and hope for the best as an incredibly well-trained and devoted legislacerator. That's the best I can do right now, anyway." Heaving a sigh, she hung limply from her restraints and, with great difficulty, avoided his gaze.

CG: "If they couldn't let his innocence slide under your judgement, what makes you think they'll let you go? They overruled you once, head Legislator, why not again?" He paused, clenching his jaw before continuing, voice clipped and short. "You couldn't allow an innocent troll you didn't know die, suppose if they found you deserving of being hung though, _I'm_ supposed to pull the lever on you and cut you down when you've stopped breathing."

GC: "Karkat, that's enough." Her voice wavered, but she gritted her teeth, trying to sound firm. "I know this is hard for you, but..." She stopped, afraid her voice would crack if she said anything else. She didn't want to admit it, but she was afraid of dying. Giving herself a minute to calm herself, she continued, almost whispering. "It will be an honorable death at least."

CG: "Honorable..." He repeated, almost sneering it. "You know what, don't say this is hard for me. Don't think about what it's like for me. Because the problem here is you couldn't be more concerned about what is in your own fucking best interest. You seemed concerned about everything but yourself."

GC: "Well maybe that's because I'm too god damn proud to admit how scared I am!" She glared at him, almost shouting now. "Maybe I'm avoiding the subject because I don't want to leave this world behind!" She dropped her tone, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm terrified, Karkat. You have no idea. I've never been more afraid in my life."

CG: He paused, falling silent as she shouted, her voice- her terror overriding whatever else he had to say next. Even when she quieted again, he kept his peace, an empty silence settling itself between them. He swallowed, hesitating before walking closer to her, reaching up to tentatively cup her face with a gloved hand. "I think I do have an idea, actually..."

GC: She didn't flinch away, only shivering slightly as he touched her. It was all she could do to keep herself from full-out crying, hurriedly blinking back her tears. Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, she pressed her cheek against his hand, embarrassed by the tears streaking down her face. "I'm glad you came to see me... I missed you. It's been far too long since the last time we saw each other."

CG: The barest breath of what would have been a sour, humorless laugh escaped him as he caressed her face. "When was that? I've lost track... A month ago? A fucking season?" He watched her, the taste in his mouth bitter at the thought that her trial would be the thing to reunite them again. "...Come to think of it, how long have you even been here?"

GC: She shrugged to the best of her ability before wincing in pain. "A few nights I guess. I've lost track..." Her body had become thin - almost frail - in that time from lack of proper diet and she hung limply from her shackles. "Honestly, I'm too tired to care. It doesn't really make a difference to me." She returned his laugh, dry and fatigued.

CG: "Suppose it doesn't matter anyway..." He trailed off, not sounding entirely convinced himself. Her malnourished appearance had gone all but unnoticed by him, that and of course the trial wasn't quite in their favor he would think. Grimacing, he let his hand drop, glancing away from her. "Defend yourself you said... Do you really think you could?"

GC: She stayed silent for a moment before speaking seriously. "Do you want an honest answer to that question or one that will let you sleep well at night?" Her tone flat, she looked up at him, all life seemingly gone from her blind eyes.

CG: "Implying I've ever had an easy time sleeping?" He looked back at her, brow furrowed. "Until I'm guaranteed you'll walk away from this totally fucking fine, I don't think I'll be sleeping in the slime any better than before."

GC: She shook her head with a weak smile. "Sorry then. I can't guarantee anything. Funny isn't it?" She scoffed, staring down at the ground. "I used to think I could guarantee anyone's safety or death, and now here I am on the brink of my own trial with no idea of what'll happen."

CG: "No... Not really. You're the best legislacerator these courtblocks have had, Terezi, but even you can't go against the very basis of the Grand Highblood's religion without there being... repercussions." His throat tightened again. "And if the justice's track record is anything to go by here, both of us have an idea as to what will probably happen."

GC: Nodding slowly, she didn't respond. She had been trying her hardest not to think about the only possibility that made sense: her death. Tensing slightly, she managed to pull herself towards him. "Hey Karkat, think you could drop your professional status for just one moment and do me a small favor?" She hadn't wanted to ask, but here she was, tired and emotionally worn, unable to help herself.

CG: He wasn't too fond of the idea himself but it keep coming back to him. Technically, it didn't leave, it just... loomed, partly in his subconscious sometimes at best, but there nonetheless, the image of a limp form hanging by a noose as opposed to a pair of shackles, making it harder to breathe again. He shook his head a little, as if it would help before glancing back at her, nearing her again. "Yeah, Terezi?" He arched an eyebrow, in truth his professional status not being much of a matter, right now anyway. Especially, not right now.

GC: "Think you could give me a hug? I think I really need one right now..." A light blush dusted her cheeks and she felt embarrassed for asking, but she knew it might help, even just a little. "Sorry, it's a weird thing to ask for, especially since I'm chained up like this. I just..." She gulped heavily before continuing. "I just really need a friend right now."

CG: He paused, surprised, a little by the request, a lot by the apology. Especially considering he personally wanted nothing more than to let her out of her restraints and hold her close, but that's something he had put aside. He simply nodded, closing the gap between them, tentatively placing his arms around her and hugging her almost frail form to his person.

GC: Sighing quietly, she relaxed against him. She took a deep breath and nuzzled into him, trying to smell the cherry that she knew flowed under his skin. It all felt so familiar and so... _old_ to her. "I'm going to miss you a lot, Karkat... I just wanted you to know that." Letting out a shaking breath, she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and for this whole mess to go away. It was a childish thought, but she wanted to go home.

CG: He remained silent, letting her nuzzle him, even returning the gesture a little, though he was more focused on just holding her, keeping her there. His arms around her tightened when she spoke again. Saying "I'm going to miss you, too" would be too close to accepting her death, which in itself was a simply unacceptable concept for him. It would be conceding. He couldn't- he just could not let her go. "Don't say that." He murmured, his tone incredibly soft and quiet.

GC: "It's true though." She let her eyes droop shut as she pressed against him, her arms protesting in pain all the while. "Even if I do survive the trial, I'll surely be demoted and won't have the chance to see you for a long time..." She paused a moment before giggling quietly. "Actually, I've never seen you." Her laugh faded as she came to a sudden realization. "Actually, I don't even really know what you look like."

CG: "At least you would be alive..." He turned his head to look up at her, the closest thing to her usual laughter he'd heard that evening lightening the atmosphere somewhat, if only temporarily. He blinked up at her before glancing downward again a little. "Well, it's not like you're missing out on anything special. It's... not all that important."

GC: "Don't be ridiculous! It's very important." She grinned at him, starting to feel better. "Or at least it's important to me, anyway. I've always been curious about your most definite handsome looks." She giggled and leaned closer, taking a few tentative sniffs at him as she began sounding more and more like her old self.

CG: "Careful, I think you're overestimating and setting yourself up for a disappointment." He chastised dryly, flicking his eyes back up at her, quirking an eyebrow a little as she got closer. He didn't move away though, his bloodpusher warming a little at the show of a more familiar, more welcome attitude. Considering the situation and everything, he found he could hardly be bothered by the sniffing and such as he would be before.

GC: "I highly doubt it, Mr. Cherrynubs." She laughed at her own nickname for him, nudging him teasingly. "I know a way to find out exactly what you look like, but I'm 100% sure that you would absolutely hate it just as much as you hate everything I do." She sniffed at him a few more times before shrugging nonchalantly, careful not the hurt her already bruised wrists more than necessary.

CG: "'Everything' is yet another overstatement." He remarked, tilting his head up again somewhat. "You know, all considered, I actually couldn't... care that much right now. If..." He hesitated, before continuing, his voice subdued and actually kind of calm. "If you want, you can do whatever to get a better idea of what I look like. Now is a good time as any, I mean... I guess."

GC: "How generous of you, Karkat!" Despite her teasing tone, she smiled warmly before lowering her voice. "Really. Thank you." Hesitating for only a moment, she licked his cheek cautiously as if testing his boundaries before giving him a few more soft licks in other spots on his face. She'd honestly wanted to know what he looked like her whole life. She just never fully got the chance to - or rather he never let her - lick him.

CG: He merely nodded to her, mumbling something along the lines of "no problem". After that, for the most part he was still, grimacing somewhat from the weird sensation of her tongue swiping over him, shutting his eyes when she neared around that area. It wasn't all that bad though, not even as slobbery and sloppy as expected; he would live.

GC: Giggling as she continued, she simply stated, "You know, you're not as horrible as you think. Actually, you're as cute as I always thought you were." After another few licks, she stopped completely before wrinkling her nose thoughtfully. "You need to get yourself a matesprit," was all she said, her tone light and playful despite her dismal situation.  


CG: A grunt was all that was offered at that, though it was sort of hard to tell whether he was skeptical or just outright protesting. When she stopped he opened his eyes again, his face just a little more than a simple flush. "Not much of a priority or well, option right now actually, for me." He cleared his throat, deciding to fix his gaze elsewhere. That brick in the wall sure looked incredibly interesting suddenly.

GC: "Aww, is poor little Karkat embarrassed? Don't worry, you taste delicious." She pulled away with a cackle, swinging lightly thanks to her restraints. "I'm sure you've got trolls coming from all over just to catch a glimpse of you. Then again, I'm sure you'd open that big mouth of yours and scare an entire city's population away." She laughed again, not unkindly but rather gently instead.

CG: He let her go, if reluctantly, choosing to cross his arms against his chest instead. "Yet another overestimation. Actually no, that was just a fucking falsification. Save for that last part, I would guess. If they knew what was good for them, they'd run or risk messing with the fucking head Threshecutioner."

GC: "I guess I honestly don't know what's good for me then." She bit back a smirk, shrugging as innocently as she could. It had been too long since the last time she'd been able to tease and antagonize Karkat like that and honestly, she'd missed it.

CG: He gave her a look, his mind being as it was, unable to help but make the connection to what she said to the situation they were in. All banter and licking aside, there was an entirely too accurate impending doom kind of feel and he couldn't shake it if he tried. He didn't comment though, letting her have the moment for the time being. "You and the others. Looking back on it, I'm really not sure what kind of state your pans were in to keep up communication with me. But oh well. Another mystery, 'suppose."

GC: She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "Oh please, it's not a mystery. You just have to accept that you're a total softy and no matter how much you shout, it's still completely obvious to the people who know you." Dropping her tone to a quiet murmur, she continued, "It's kind of adorable actually, but what else did I expect?" She smiled to herself, actually happy for the first time in the last few days.

CG: "Yes because a total softy could claw his incredibly grueling way up and maintain his position on top with no iron conviction whatsoever." It wasn't the best retort he'd had, but it could be said his heart wasn't quite in it. He tilted his head at her a little at the murmur, hearing the gist of it and pausing, but just... grappling with it for a moment. He shifted in place, letting it go. Not the first accusation of him being "cute" and "adorable" and so on, obviously, but the accusations to start with weren't really anything he thought he could ever get used to.

GC: "Hey, you can be a softy and still be totally badass too, you know." Drawing her face into a pout, she teasingly stretched out her leg with the last of whatever strength she had to give his shin a light tap. "Come here, there's something really important I need you to promise me," she said with a sigh, her content mood beginning to fade as the reality of her trial found its way back into her mind.

CG: "Oh, right, there's you as proof of that, isn't there." He countered, chuckling somewhat, turning her own words back around to her. Dark eyes glanced down at the light tap and then back to her, him walking back so that he was closer to her again. "Yes?" He inquired, his tone sobering back up with hers. "What is it?"

GC: "Promise me you won't become a total asshole who is more absorbed in his work than anything and will lock anyone out who tries to be nice after I'm gone? Because let's face it, I already have enough trouble getting you to loosen up and I just don't want you to block the whole world out just because you're upset." She kept near-perfect eye contact with him, peering over the top of her glasses.

CG: "...Upset, would be an understatement." He managed, meeting her gaze surprisingly calmly with his own. "Terezi, I... I don't think that's something you need to worry about." Seriously considering her gone, he could understand why people often say they don't know what they would do, if something happened to the other. He really wasn't sure what would happen afterwards. Would he just let his work be everything? Would he just gradually... drop because then his record would include pulling _her_ lever, cutting _her_ body down? Or what?

GC: "I still want you to promise... Please." She smiled sadly, continuing almost pleadingly. "Let it be a dying girl's last wish..." The shock of what she said finally hit her and, despite how hard she had tried to stay calm, she could feel herself beginning to shake. Clenching her jaw to hold back the tears she could already feel burning at the corners of her broken eyes, she wrinkled her nose to push her glasses back into place.

CG: He scowled, breaking eye contact with her and glancing away, going silent. Instead of promising her, instead of confirming that yes, she was going to be gone and he would be living without her and that she was as good as _dead_ , he removed the space between them again. His arms settled around her once more, him burying his face into her shoulder and neck, unprompted and unrestrained.

GC: A little surprised at first, she did her best to nuzzle into him. "Please, Karkat." She repeated the words over and over, her voice almost soothing as she pressed herself desperately against him. "You can't just keep believing that I'm going to live forever. We both know what's coming, so it's better to accept it than have to be disappointed while you grieve. Please... I'm trying so hard to be strong when all I want to do is just lay down and cry." Nudging his head with her chin, she tried to get him to look up at her. "Karkat, you have to promise what I ask of you. It's important."

CG: "Not forever, no, you're supposed to live longer than me though." He let her get him to look up, his jaw set tightly as his eyes threatened to water, burning. "I know, you're trying Terezi. I know you want me to fucking promise. I..." He trailed off, swallowing hard and sighing, closing his eyes and tucking his head under hers again. "I don't think I can." He murmured softly. "I won't." He pulled back, furiously wiping at his eyes. "... I'm not letting you die."

GC: "Karkat, you can't! You'll lose your position and join me in the gallows if you try anything." Her voice cracked in her desperation, tears forcing themselves down her face. Barely giving herself enough time to take a shaky breath, she continued, trying to keep her voice level. "I'm begging you. You have to keep moving on, whether I'm in the future or not. You can't hold on to people forever and as much as I would love to stay and breathe the same air as you, I can't. So please, for once in your life, just listen to me!"

CG: "I am fucking listening, Terezi. I have been. That doesn't mean I have to agree with you, though." He struggled to keep his breathing even, to not let this overwhelm him, not now. "You think I could pull that lever? Let it fucking drop? Hope it fucking snaps your neck so at least it was fucking quick? You didn't sentence that kid, hell knows I can't condemn _you_. Trust me, it's not letting you go that's the problem, Terezi. It's killing you. Letting you _die_ is something else." He withdrew further, gears turning in his head. "I could get the keys, unlock you, sneak you out of here. As long as we're careful."

GC: "What after all that time you spent clawing your way to the position of your dreams? I refuse to let you ruin your entire life because of me! You'd never be able to go out in public without some kind of disguise ever again and neither would I!" She took a deep breath, trying to think of something - anything - that would knock some sense into him. "The guards saw you come in here. They'd know you set me free. Even if I did agree to go with you, it would be far too dangerous. You have to stop thinking like this, please. I've already told you that I'd rather die by your hand than any other. Hell, I'm even thankful for that!" Breathing heavily, the strain of shouting at him was too much for her and she could already feel herself getting light headed.

CG: He was quiet as she shouted at him, not looking at her until she was finished. When she was he glanced back up, walking back to her and reaching up, doing something skirting pale but not quite, caressing her face again and smoothing back her hair. "... Would you hang me?" He asked, going on before she could formulate a response. "I would be the same as you, sure, encourage you to do so and move on. But would _you_ hang me?" He lowered his voice even now, when it was just her there. "Suppose my blood color got out and I was where you are now, even if that. Suppose you were to be at my execution to put the noose around my neck or whatever. What would _you_ do in my position?"

GC: She tensed, looking away from him and staying silent for a moment before turning to her last resort. "I would hang you." Her tone was much colder than she had intended, but it was all she could do to keep him safe. As much as it broke her bloodpusher to lie to him about something like that, she refused sit back and let herself die, knowing that the boy she grew up with would be throwing his entire future away. "I would hang you because it would be my duty." She pursed her lips, using the very last ounce of strength she had to stop herself from bursting into tears.

CG: He froze, his mouth going dry, something permafrost-freezing worming its way into his chest and staying there, numbing it, making it hard to breathe. He withdrew his hand letting it drop by his side, curling into a tight fist with the other. He forced himself to inhale sharply, the breath coming out shakily and not doing anything much for him. He turned away from her, swallowing, struggling to form words. "...G-good, then. Good to know you have your priorities fucking sorted. Guess I don't." A part of him protested, saying if she really felt that way she would have turned him in by then for her "duty", but he wasn't listening. It didn't matter. He'd get her out either way, this didn't make a damn difference to him. "...I'm sorry, Terezi."

GC: "Don't you dare go out there to get the keys or I swear I'm going to come back from the dead specifically to haunt your ass. Don't you dare." Her voice was firm but as she spoke her last words she exploded in tantrum-like tears. "Karkat, you can't. I'm begging you. I want you to have a good life, at least. You need to get yourself out of here and clear your head because the trial is coming up and whether you like it or not, you're the one who's going to grant me the "ultimate pardon", as some might put it, so don't you fucking dare stand there and tell me you're sorry because that just makes you as much of a liar as I am. Are you even listening to what I'm saying? Go home, Karkat. Forget about me. Live your life. I've already forgiven you for cutting that rope, so please... Just... Stop."

CG: "My head's fucking crystal clear already and I already told you, I _have_ been listening." He said, voice constricted as he continued, breathing hard through his teeth. "Terezi, as far as I know my life is shorter than everyone else's, than a maroonblood's even. What would remain of it after you... I don't think you understand. Suppose that's not your fault though. I've lived my dream already, this would just turn it into a nightmare. Maybe not even that, just... dull. Not worth it. Hell maybe I'll be in for a trial like that kid's, maybe I can't let another execution like that go, so I don't and I end up where you are anyway." He rambled off, the struggle he had with getting words out seeming to disappear in his grief and frustration. "...I've had the life I wanted. But it won't be that anymore if you're gone, no less by me. Sure _you_ can forgive me... I can't though. You're my... You're my best friend for fuck's sake." He's quiet with the last part, it's an almost too childish statement but it's heavy on his tongue.

GC: She stared at him desperately, breathing hard as tears streamed down her face. After a silent minute, she hung her head in total defeat, feeling as though everything were coming apart in front of her. Her voice no higher than a hoarse whisper, she barely managed to croak, "Fine. Get the keys. I can't argue with you when my heart is breaking like this."

CG: That last part joined the rest of what was said that evening in his head, ringing, shockingly clear and jarring. He only glanced down though, struggling to haphazardly bind together something at least somewhat resembling composure, wiping at his face again and swallowing back messy words. "I'm sorry. I really am." And with that he was off. When he would return moments later, he'd seem calmer, though not necessarily any better, so to speak. He was on auto-pilot, the mode he took to shifting into in intense situations as opposed to just being incapacitated by his own emotions, rendering him useless. That, and he had just slammed the head of a guard pretty hard, so that helped get something out. More or less. Walking through the cell door he went up to her, choosing to look at anything but her face as he undid her shackles, holding her around the waist when he was fishing at the last one so she didn't just drop unceremoniously onto the dungeon floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by [Peregr1ne](http://peregr1ne.tumblr.com/)


	2. Flight - Act I, scene ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After agreeing to let herself be freed, both Terezi and Karkat break free from the dungeon, avoiding peril to the best of their ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry for the back and forth form and changes in colors. Just trying to make it more readable. Also, even though this text is separated into each character, we have at some points included ocs to help move the story line along, but they aren't separated from the texts as their own characaters.

GC: Slumping into his arms as her own hung limply at her sides, she sighed, not saying a word. She was far too tired and frustrated with him to say anything anyway, so she only grunted as she rolled her bruised wrists in an attempt to get at least some blood flowing in her fingers. Taking her time to test the ground with her feet, she carefully balanced herself, managing to actually stay upright despite her aching ankles. Peeling herself away from him, she simply slid her hand weakly into his, nodding towards the door.

CG: He guessed it was just her being too tired to be able to help it, but he was grateful anyway, gripping her hand firmly and gently tugging her along. First and foremost, he lead them to the block where weapons were stored, passing through a suspiciously guard-less hall, him taking a moment to pick out her dragon cane easily. He didn't give it to her though, instead hooking at his hip, like his sickle. "I'm going to have to cuff you again, okay?" He glanced at her, already moving to open a drawer and taking out a pair of cuffs with their keys. "Just for the time being." They couldn't plausibly fight their way out of here entirely; for as long as they could they'd have to pretend he was... escorting her to a new cell or something. He'd figure it out if asked, but yeah, they needed to avoid tipping off anyone else.

GC: "As long as it's plausible, do what you need to." Her voice came out hoarse and weak, as if she hadn't had anything to drink in a long time, which, in this case, was true. Extending her arms out to him, she waited patiently to be cuffed with a somber expression, her eyebrows knitting themselves together in thought. Her fear of death had died down, now replaced with a numb ache that could only be the expectance of getting caught and culled on the spot. So much for the "honorable death" she had managed to grow accustomed to.

CG: He nodded, clamping the metal carefully over her already bruised wrists, then pocketing the keys. He didn't say much else, everything he'd been considering mentioning staying cooped up in his sponge. It was quiet as they exited the block, him with his sickle out in case his "prisoner" got any ideas as far as anyone else was concerned. Leading her out of the cell area wasn't too bad, there were a few guards but they didn't seem to think anything much of the duo. Or rather, they probably thought the head Threshecutioner was doing something important concerning the former head legislacerator. It was only when they started getting to the above-ground areas, away from the dungeons and prisoner areas, did it start becoming a little more difficult. He couldn't rush them though without raising (more) eyebrows as it was. They'd just have to, well, hope for the best there.

GC: Following along obediently, she nudged him in a sort of warning, silently telling him to be careful. Her breath heavy, she dragged her feet along as she walked, barely keeping from tripping over herself as she shuffled behind him. She could feel excitement building in her with each guard they passed, threatening to push her over the edge into an all-out adrenaline rush. Every single one of her muscles ached, screaming as she forced herself down the dimly lit hallways of the building.

CG: Instead of heading for the center block of the establishment where the main entrance was, he veered away from that, detouring into emptier halls. The back way would be more discreet, easier to pass through. For a while it _was_ easier, there only being a handful of trolls, if any, back there and they didn't appear to be all that bright anyway. Another couple of turns and they should be good- what was that? Karkat paused, a flicker of movement in the darker part of the hallway catching his attention. Just as he turned his head that way, there was a slight motion in front of him and oh _shit_. "Bit out of your motherfucking ring, aren't you, brother?"

GC: Terezi held her breath, biting down on her lip as she looked away to feign shame. Awkwardly rubbing her hands together through her shackles, she refused to acknowledge the horribly delicious grape smell of what could only be a member of the oh so "miraculous" church. It was better to shrink away than to be noticed by one of them and shrink away she did, the last sliver of whatever pride she had left fading away as she bowed her head to a troll whom she had once been able to order around from her official standpoint. If she hadn't been escaping, but rather being transferred to another cell, she would have gone as far as saying that the experience was humiliating.

CG: Karkat simply looked up at the taller troll, lowering his weapon despite his instincts cautioning him to not do anything close to letting his guard down. "The ring has been moved," he said evenly. "Your superiors thought it would be humorous as hell to relocate her to the Aggravation blocks, closer to the gallows, let her mistake be truly reflected in her environment. Thought the standard cells were too simple." He decided to leave it at that, watching the subjugglator carefully. The larger troll merely blinked, completely still before his greasy painted face split into a terrifying grin. "Well, I can't all up and argue with that now can I," he chuckled, turning to look down at the former legislacerator. "Your lot was always a bunch of fickleblooded parasites. Goin' round full of motherfucking incredulous audacity, goin' round like you're above everything. It's been a motherfucking pleasure, seeing you, legislacerator." The subjugglator hunched over even more in what was supposed to be a mock bow before striding past, lumbering steps echoing down the hall. Karkat tightened his grip on his sickle, walking a _little_ faster than before, urging her to do the same.

GC: Instead of making the snide remark that had already formulated on the tip of her tongue, Terezi clenched her fists, looking away from the subjuggulator in true shame. Quickening her pace behind the threshecutioner in front of her, she focused her attention on the bland-smelling ground below her feet, keeping her breath even. As soon as they were far out of earshot, she muttered, "I can't stand them," huffing as she kept pace with him. The air, no longer carrying the dank smell of the dungeons, was cold and Terezi shivered, wanting only to stop and sleep for a while.

CG: "Yeah well, hopefully that's the last we see of them for a long fucking while." He stalked down the last hallway, taking another turn which would lead them to a set of double doors, beyond that lying a small courtyard. "...You alright?" He prompted, knowing for the most part this was an extremely redundant question, but he was lacking better wording for once. After fiddling with the lock for a second he opened the door for her, leading them outside.

GC: She grunted in assurance, not wanting to get caught speaking with the guard, no, Head Threshecutioner escorting her. She didn't feel safe out in the open like this. Doing her best not to let her vulnerability show, she shuffled quickly through the courtyard, breathing in the scent of fresh air for the first time in days; It almost overwhelmed her at first.

CG: Safely under the overhang of the opposing building and no longer out in open space, Karkat sighed and started walking them further out, nearing the scuttlebuggy lots and lusus containment areas for those who rode their mounts to work or used them in their work. He didn't exactly want to chance walking by the lusus containment receptacles, them requiring quite a few trolls running around to tend to them and all, usually. Instead, he diverted to the parking area. "Alright, so far so good, now we just-" He paused mid-sentence, the low rise of commotion behind them catching his attention, distant shouting and alarms echoing across the grounds. Well, guess the jig was up. Lasted a lot longer than he expected though, so there was that. Now they _really_ needed to get moving.

GC: "Quick, unchain me. We have to go. Now." Her eyes widened at the racket behind them, her voice sounding hurried and just a tad desperate. They had made it this far. They couldn't stop now or they'd both be culled. Throwing her arms out towards him, she waited, tapping her foot rapidly as she motioned for him to hurry. "I sure as hell hope you have a place in mind that we could go because if we don't run and hide now, you can say goodbye to this life." Her breathing quickened as she kept whipping her head over her shoulder, trying to get a hold of any nearby smells.

CG: He nodded and quickly fished out the keys, undoing the cuffs and moving to hand her her dragon cane-sword. "We'll have to figure out a way to get there first, we're definitely not outrunning shit." To even them out, this was as brash a move on his part as it was hers with sparing that kid. Actually, not quite, this was significantly more reckless than her stunt. He had figured some matters out but not _everything_ , there simply wasn't much time to plan out in detail. If there was, well... they probably wouldn't be having such an issue getting out.

GC: "Karkat, we're in a parking lot, are we not?" She didn't wait for a response, already hurrying her way towards a nearby vehicle. "Get over here! We need to do this quickly!" Ripping a length of fabric off the bottom of her shirt, she delicately threaded it through the crack in the door, and with great precision, somehow managed to pull the lever on the door that unlocked the scuttlebuggy. Swinging the door open, she leapt inside, making the wise choice of sitting next to the driver's seat. Then, buckling her seat belt as any law abiding citizen would have done, she waited for Karkat impatiently.

CG: "Well, yeah but-" He snapped his jaw shut as she went over, quickly striding over to the vehicle with her, pulling open the driver's side and sliding in. "Right, hot-wiring the damn thing." He knew that, he totally remembered exactly how to do that. He'd just... Shifting in the seat, he ducked his head down, narrowing his eyes and quickly picking at the screws keeping the panel in place. Setting aside his sickle, he took out a small dagger instead. Pulling the layer of plastic off, he looked at the wires on the underside of the steering wheel. "You cut the red ones right?"

GC: "You're asking the blind ex-legislaceratorator who has an obsession with that particular color?" She stared at him in mock disbelief, just the tiniest hint of a smile appearing on her face. Leaning back in her seat, she peered out the window doing her best to smell any threats through the thick glass. Nervousness about the escape gone, she knew one of two things would happen. 1. They would escape successfully. 2. They would go down trying. Either way, she was going to make sure it was a hell of a lot of fun.

CG: "I'm asking the ex-legislacerator who knew how to unlock a car with a piece of her fucking shirt. Just... keep a nose out while I figure this." On the one hand, he was glad to hear something other than despondent tones from her, on the other... His brow furrowed, the muffled commotion outside eventually urging him to just cut the red ones. Pinching the two ends together, he twisted them, causing the lights of the radio and clock to flash on. "Thank fucking god." He growled, setting to work on the starter wires, diligently stripping them and holding the ends together, letting them go once the car was up and running.

GC: She beamed at him. "Hell yes! You know, you're lucky that I actually managed to unlock this thing." With a giggle she rolled down the window, instantly catching wind of the commotion nearby. Wrinkling her nose, she turned to him, pure adrenaline practically making her bounce excitedly in her seat. "I think they're getting closer. Step on it!"

CG: A wry, crooked smile pulled at his mouth, her ecstatic demeanor an extremely welcome change of pace. "Don't need to tell me twice." Straightening back up again, he buckled his seat and started pulling out just as a large group of figures were starting to approach from the courtyard. A shout roared above the clamoring, no doubt from their subjugglator friend from a little while ago. Noting they had started to close the entrance and exit gates to the parking lot, he promptly pressed down on the pedal, hard.

GC: "Hey Karkat, do me a favor? Next time I fucking doubt you about something, remind me of this." She leaned forward in her seat, practically on edge as they approached the exit gates. If they didn't make it through, the jig would be up, yet she still pinned her hopes on this one chance. The grim thought barely fazed her and she continued grinning, flicking her head back every once in a while to check the progress of their pursuers.

CG: "Don't suppose that would apply to my taste in cinema would it?" He chuckled, a little strained from everything, but mostly genuine warmth. He was cut short however, a javelin of sorts piercing its way into the back windshield, but only just. He shut up, focusing back on getting out, pressing on the gas even harder, spurring them past the shutting gates.

GC: "Oh hell no." Quickly unbuckling her seatbelt, she scrambled into the back seat, grabbing at the javelin. Would pulling the weapon out cause all of the glass to break? Only one way to find out. She carefully pulled it's long shaft into the car, deeming the weapon to be useful later, and, thankfully, the back windshield remained intact... For the most part. Proud of her idea, she pulled the javelin with her into the front seat almost as quickly as she had leapt into the back and simply grinned as they sped past the gates.

CG: "What are you- Terezi, sit the fuck down, it's-" He glanced at her, half worried, half incredulous when she just sat back down with the weapon looking more than a little pleased with herself, grand escape aside. "I'd call you fucking shithive maggots, but I don't have a lot of fucking room to talk, I don't think." He said, a bit of a laugh punctuating the end of his statement. He turned around in his seat a bit, watching them leaving the judicial and legislative buildings behind through the damaged windshield. They were going to live, it would look like, holy _shit_ they were actually going to make it through this.

GC: "Oh please. I thought you already knew I was 'fucking shithive maggots', but hey, you learn something new everyday." Cackling, she sounded more and more like her old self, not the her that had previously been willing to sacrifice her life for the troll seated next to her. It was a nice feeling, being able to just let go and feel free from responsibility for a while. "You know, I'd probably be hugging you right now, but I'm afraid if I even attempt, you'll squeal like a little wriggler and drive the scuttlebuggy into a tree or something, so this will just have to do instead." Without warning, she leaned over to peck his cheek in gratitude, not knowing any other way to express the feeling.

CG: "Well... um, fair enough." It wasn't so much he didn't know she was off her swaychair (most of the time, anyway) as it was he hadn't seen her like this in a while, and for a time he doubted he would again. He was more than happy to be proved wrong though. He cleared his throat. "Oh come on, I wouldn't- _I_ do not fucking squeal, that is a lie Pyrope and you-" He bit back few words and then some at the gesture, "then some" possibly being some totally undignified surprised noise or some shit. Either way, he quieted. "Um, yes, well ah, where the fuck even are we?" He started, suddenly ducking his head a little to peer at passing signs and get an idea of where they were.

GC: She giggled at his reaction before peering out her own window to assess their situation. "Well, we haven't gotten too far yet, so it's hard to tell. That and the fact that I can't smell the signs well enough when we're going this fast to tell you." With a shrug, she sat back in her seat, rolling her shoulders to relieve the tension left over from being chained up for so long. Finally realizing just how much her muscles actually ached, she felt a wave of fatigue over come her and she struggled to fight it. This whole escapade had taken more out of her than she cared to admit.

CG: "I don't think I've gone down here before..." He remarked before he could think better of it. "Uh, I'll figure it out though, as long as we're heading away we're fine." He sighed, reclining back in his own seat, though he didn't let up on the pedal none. The road was empty and the farther away they were, the better. He looked over at her, noting how she seemed to droop now as opposed to earlier when she was bouncing in her seat. She must have been exhausted as hell, going through all that shit. "Hey, we'll be driving a while. If you want, you can go ahead and take a nap. It's as good as a time as any. I'll wake you when we stop." He returned his gaze frontward, noting they were pretty good on gas. A stroke of luck, all considered.

GC: She scoffed quietly, crossing her arms with a roll of her eyes. "I bet you'll be lost within five minutes or less." Despite her teasing words, she honestly felt like it was good timing for a nap, so, taking him up on his offer, she let her eyes droop shut. Leaning all the way back in her seat, she shifted around to make herself comfortable, her hands falling quietly to her sides as she felt herself begin drifting off. Finally asleep, she let her head loll towards the window, all the different smells overwhelming, yet calming at the same time.

CG: "What was that about doubting me again?" He inquired, though it was quiet, him wanting her to take the opportunity and get some well-deserved rest. Letting a peaceful silence fall, he eventually moved to pick up the javelin, making sure not wake her as he placed it in the backseat. Like they needed anymore sharp objects up in here. A little more relaxed he glanced at the time, frowning somewhat. They wouldn't reach the place he had in mind by the time the sun rose, especially since he was on a road he wasn't familiar with. He would get them somewhere properly covered though. What's a little more improvisation for the night right?


	3. Flight - Act I, scene iii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two runaway trolls stumble upon a mysteriously abandoned set of hives and take refuge within, hoping that they will not be noticed. (It also leads to cute as fuck cuddles because why not.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [4/1/14 7:02:18 PM] Sarah: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ooc cuddly karkat  
> [4/1/14 7:02:23 PM] Sarah: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ it me  
> [4/1/14 7:02:34 PM] Tat: its cute as fuck tho  
> [4/1/14 7:02:35 PM] Sarah: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ  
> [4/1/14 7:03:16 PM] Sarah: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ i feel i should apologize formerly to the tsundere kks out there im sorry im too softcore  
> [4/1/14 7:04:49 PM] Sarah: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ im so sorry

GC: Terezi's chest rose and fell slowly with each deep breath she took as she slept, the look on her face peaceful. She had fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep, finally able to relax for the first time in days. Her body needed the rest more than anything at the moment, the quiet hum of the car's engine and troll sitting next to her making her feel safe.

CG: For a while he kept glancing at her, a slight concern surfacing in his think pan concerning the lack of slime. Of course there were times when slime simply wasn't an option and they'd have to go without, and she definitely did not have the luxury of a cocoon in her prison, so the car seat was basically a high-quality lounging apparatus to her anyway. Still, the threshecutioner or, ex-threshecutioner rather, worried somewhat. Hours passed though with not a hint of the slightest night terror, so he returned his attention to the road and dashboard. He had since let up on the gas, a few scuttlebuggies passing by them earlier and he figuring they were far away enough now, though he still drove a little faster than required. Dawn was approaching and there wasn't a whole lot of selection shelter-wise, the road being pretty remote. There were a few small buildings they had passed earlier but nothing they could have stayed at. Honestly, by the time the road took a new turn onto more worse-for-wear territory, he had started to panic a little. It would be a real fucking shame just to get burned to grubcrisps after escaping the designated legislative and judicial buildings here.

GC: Mumbling something too quiet to be understandable in her sleep, Terezi shifted to make herself more comfortable. She felt herself coming to on the semi-bumpy road and simply exhaled, not wanting to open her eyes. Laying back against the seat in a half asleep state, she breathed in the scents of the car, slowly remembering where she was and what her situation was. After a few minutes, she sat up rubbing her eyes with the back of a loosely formed fist. "How long have we been driving?" She slurred her words sleepily, allowing herself a yawn before shaking her head slightly in an attempt to make her thinkpan more alert.

CG: "A pretty long fucking while." He sighed, shifting in his seat a bit, trying to break the stiffness that had settled in his limbs after the first three hours of driving. "...Morning's two hours away or so. Haven't found much of anything since we left. Still not seeing much of anything." He said, commenting on the disrepair of the road and the generally deserted feel of the area. Turning the car down another turn in the road, it started looking like the remains of an old neighborhood, piles of rubble marking where hives probably stood at some point.

GC: She drew her eyebrows together in thought before saying, "Maybe we can sleep in the car? I'm sure we can find something to cover the windows with. It's better than being outside at least." She looked over her shoulder at the back of the car, continuing. "Besides, I think the back seat can recline pretty far back if need be." Turning back to the front, she sniffed out her window before promptly shutting it with a shiver. "Do you even know where we are? Because I think I won that bet about you getting lost."

CG: "I'm... working on figuring that out. I'm trying to remember what road we even took. Sure as hell wasn't the main one... Which is good I guess, I don't think they're finding us anytime soon but..." He trailed off, considering her suggestion. "There anything around thick enough we can stick to this thing without having to worry about it falling off or some shit later? Something tells me whoever owned this wasn't someone to hoard fucking tapestries in his trunk."

GC: "Maybe we'll find something on the road? There are plenty of ruins here." She sighed, continuing. "Worst comes to worst, we can sleep on the floor of the car or something where it's darker. It's better than nothing." She pursed her lips, trying to make a good plan for sleeping. "We'd have to take turns sleeping too... You know, to keep a look out."

CG: "Yeah, we can build an inconspicuous hive construction block shack around us, that would work." He bit his tongue, a slight strain slipping into his tone as time ticked by. He shook his head, as if he could literally shake off the sleepiness that had been gradually creeping up on him as he drove. "Yeah, I know. If one of us has to sleep on the floor then fine but..." He paused, leaning forward in his seat and narrowing his eyes, peering at the ruined neighborhood before them. "Hold on, think I see something." He urged the car along further up the road, going deeper into the development, rubble slowly giving way to small ruins and then finally to a handful of decrepit hives at the very back of the neighborhood. One of them was rather large, enough so that it caused a bit of distortion with the sparse tree line from afar. "Well... whatever kind of fucking disaster happened here, at least it's blast radius didn't fuck up everything."

GC: "Karkat, we don't know what's in there..." She glanced nervously at the hive and then back at him. She was afraid she was too tired to keep up her guard - both of them were exhausted - and if something happened in there, she wasn't sure how exactly they would defend themselves. On top of that, the fact that this was one of the only still-standing hives gave her the creeps. Something really terrible must have happened, but she told herself if wasn't all that bad to keep herself calm, if nothing else. "We have to be really careful, okay?"

CG: "By the looks of it, I don't think anything has been within a fucking 5 mile radius of this place." He parked the car just at the mouth of the driveway, leaving the car on though for the time being. "If you want we can try one of the other hives, they're smaller. I'm pretty sure there's nothing inside though. Even if there is, we can handle it, right?" He looked at her, a hand already on his sickle. "Hell knows we've handled worse."

GC: She smirked, beginning to open the car door. "That's the spirit." Readying her cane, she took a tentative step out of the car and towards the hive. She inhaled a deep breath, examining the area for any threats before approaching the hive and motioning for him to follow. Opening the door, she was careful to keep it from creaking as she inched into the hive. She sighed with relief after taking a moment to look around. "No one here," she called.

CG: He walked up behind her, sickle in hand as he examined the interior from where he stood, wrinkling his nose. "I wouldn't be surprised if the dust was affecting your vision any." He snorted and slid into the hive with her, most things save for the thoroughly moth-nibbled curtains and couch being since removed or destroyed. "You see anything like this abroad legislator?"

GC: "I haven't _seen_ anything." She giggled, nudging him lightly. "And that's ex-legislator to you, Mr. Escape Artist." Walking around slowly, she began examining what was left of the furniture before summoning a little courage and venturing further into the hive. Looking specifically for a nutritionblock or respiteblock, she was more than delighted when she found both rooms, relatively intact.

CG: "Ah, haven't heard that one in a long time." His lips tugged upwards in a dry smile despite himself, trailing behind her as she explored the hive. "Ex-escape artist if our luck holds out." He remarked, sincerely hoping they wouldn't have to pull something like that, take a risk like that, again. "Hm... seriously wondering what the fuck happened here though..."

GC: "I'm honestly too tired right now to come up with a better answer than 'something bad'." With a quiet sigh, she made her way directly to the respiteblock, examining the single recuperacoon and peeking inside to check if there was any sopor left. Amazingly, there actually was some left and she grinned in relief, calling over her shoulder. "Hey Karkat, there's still sopor here! You think both of us could fit?"

CG: He glanced over at her from the doorway, biting back a "wait what". He cleared his throat and crossed his arms, stepping forward a little to look over the cocoon, surmising it hesitantly from a distance. "Should we even sleep in that stuff? I think it has a fucking film over it actually." He shifted, continuing at a possibly smaller, more admitting tone. "I mean we _could_ fit in there, probably..."

GC: "You think it went bad or something?" She wrinkled her nose, peering over the edge of the cocoon again and taking a deep sniff. "That or your just afraid to share a 'coon with me." She grinned, prodding him teasingly with her her index finger. She leaned back against the cocoon, crossing her arms in front of her childishly. "But hey, I'm sure we'll find you a perfectly comfortable spot somewhere else in here while I get all this soothing sopor to myself." With a shrug she stepped around him, moving to a couch that appeared to have most of it's stuffing still inside.

CG: "Oh please, I'm not afraid to share a recuperacoon with you I just... don't trust that ancient-ass slime a whole fucking lot." He walked closer, ignoring the prodding for the most part and peering over the cocoon's edge. To be honest it didn't look all that bad actually, it was almost sort of inviting... Especially after their escapade bit. Moving back he just shrugged. "I'll just take one of the couches for the day or something, tomorrow night we can take a look at the other hives and see if we can move a coon from there to here. There could be other useful things in there too while we're at it."

GC: "Fair enough, but if you don't trust that thing and you can actually see it, I'm not so sure I want to be sleeping in it..." Her playful tone faded and she glanced at the recuperacoon with a sigh. She could feel her body already craving rest again and she knew she'd probably be fine if she conked out on a couch. "I'll go check if there's anything else in the immediate vicinity that's soft enough to work as a mattress," she said slowly, rolling the words around on her tongue. She could feel her eyes practically drooping shut again.

CG: Looking at her, he hesitated, his shoulders seeming to slump in what very well could have been defeat. "Wait, let me just... get a better look at this shit before we decide to crash on some fucking parasite metropolis." He leaned over the pod, glancing at the opening and the sides before reaching in and swishing his hand in the green slurry a bit before withdrawing. Shaking off the bits of slime on his hand he stood back. "It actually doesn't seem that bad. As far as I can tell the cleansing chemical system is still working, there's not even a speck of dust on the inside, much less in the sopor. So, yeah... You can get in if you want. I'll uh, join you or crash on the floor or some shit after I get the scuttlebuggy inside the storageblock."

GC: She rolled her eyes with a soft smile. "You know, for a shouty little man, you're pretty sweet sometimes." Making her way towards the cocoon again, she shooed him out of the room, muttering something about him having to hurry up before their beloved new vehicle was stolen. When she was sure he was gone, she quickly shut the door to the block before stripping down to her underwear and stepping carefully into the cocoon. Having him see her chained up and helpless was shaming, yes, but half naked was just downright embarrassing. Sinking into the murky liquid until it reached up to her chin, she shut her eyes listening to the silence of the abandoned hive in peace.

CG: He's shooed out before he could make a proper retort, though it was probably best that way. Sighing, he left her to her privacy, walking back outside and circling around to the large door of the storageblock. Leaning down he bent to grasp the handle at the bottom, grunting as he pushed the door up manually before going back to the buggy. It's only when he has parked the car safely inside and powered off did it occur to him he probably should have looked for the switch or button for the storageblock door first instead, see if it would have worked first. Would have been easier, he supposed his own weariness was getting to him as well. Clambering out of the vehicle, he doesn't bother looking for the switch and just pulled down the storageblock door again, making sure it clicked before he turned and dragged himself back to the respiteblock. As a small precaution he knocked, choosing to be on the quiet side in case she was already asleep. "Am I alright to come in or?..."

GC: A simple "yeah" was all she mustered, her voice quiet and tired. She leaned against the inner wall of the cocoon to stop herself from slipping in deeper than necessary, simultaneously making more room for him should he decide to join her. She stayed silent after that, her broken eyes never once flicking open. She wasn't quite asleep yet, but she could feel herself being tugged into unconciousness.

CG: Tentatively he slipped in, glancing over at her as he padded by to the side of the recuperacoon, removing his threshecutioner armor as silently as possible and gently placing the plates and guards on the floor out of possibly hazardous tripping zones near the behind of the cocoon. His underclothes came after, leaving him likewise in his underwear. Hesitantly approaching the edge of the recuperacoon, he carefully clambered inside, trying his best not to disturb her as he slid himself down into the slime, there being just enough room so that they could both lay comfortably, if a little close to each other. Turning on his side so his back was towards her, he shut his eyes and curled in on himself a little out of habit, exhaustion from the evening finally taking its toll on him.

GC: Edging closer for warmth was the last thing she would remember before falling into a deep sleep. Her back to his, she slept soundly. It had been an exhausting and emotionally draining day for her. While her stress slowly ebbed away in her slumber, she dreamt of the day she had become a legislator, the position she had waited her whole life for, and how, with only one trial, it was all taken away from her. Her eyebrows pressed themselves together in dream induced, yet very real, worry. This would not be a pleasant rest for her, but rather one that would simply run the day's events through her thinkpan again.

CG: His rest was only as kind, the most intense moments from the night coming back to him in choppy, distorted scenes, a scowl pulling at his features as he slept on if a little fitfully. All the worry, all the stress, all the fear lingered in his dreams, making his muscles tense and his bloodpusher become erratic again. The initial disbelief and dread when he was called, being instructed to attend the trial of head legislacerator, Terezi Pyrope, the constricting grief he met in the dungeon, angry, desperate words all resurfacing in his unconsciousness and making the former threshecutioner shift and twitch in the slime.

GC: Feeling his movements, Terezi pulled herself into a half-consciousness, rolling over to him and squeezing his arm ever so gently. Already drifting back into her tense dreams, she let her head droop near his shoulder as she pressed close to him: a final act of consolation. She didn't care that her hair was now completely covered in the thick slime or that she was lying so close to Karkat. She just wanted for the both of them to be able to get some rest.

CG: He tensed, old instincts and his dreams making her touch, her presence something much more sinister, but only for a moment. He relaxed a bit later, something seemingly recognizing the nonthreatening, even welcome gesture as it actually was; comforting. He shifted back somewhat so they were even closer as she did before slipping off into deep sleep, an arm adjusting itself so his hand brushed hers, resting atop his forearm.

GC: Comfortable in her new position, one that seemed almost familiar, the dreams that put her on edge softened into calming ones before fading away. She snored lightly, her face losing all the worry and stress that was visible not to long before. This was how she slept, unmoving until the moon had risen once again. The soft light of day slowly faded from the window as night came about, and soon, Terezi found herself no longer able to sleep. It was dark and eerily silent in the room, a sensation that was all but unfamiliar to her. Shifting closer to Karkat, she nuzzled gently into his back and tried to fall asleep once more, but finding it no longer possible, simply breathed in the ever-present cherry scent, just barely noticeable beneath his rough skin.

CG: The Cancer had since settled into a relatively soothing rest, nerves rubbed raw from recent developments finally having a chance to recover, the tension just about seeping into the slime. He even slept on longer than her for a good half hour or so, bleary eyes eventually blinking into half-lidded ones when sleep gradually becomes harder and harder to keep. He sighed, taking a moment to notice the warmth of another body very, very close to him, like, nuzzling-face-against-your-back kind of close and the hand at his arm. His brow furrowed, but only slightly, him turning a little to look back at the troll behind him. "You... weren't licking me when I was asleep and covered in sopor slime were you?" He asked, his words a bit slurred from the lingering tiredness.

GC: She simply groaned, "Don't be ridiculous." Then, changing her mind, leaned forward to give his cheek a small lick. A sleepy smile tugged at her lips as she settled back down, pressing her forehead into the crook of his neck. "You honestly felt so tense while you were asleep, I was worried you were going to pop a vein or something," she murmured with a slight giggle.

CG: "I think at this point I should just say I'm ridiculously-inclined, all considered." He doesn't make much of a fuss when she does lick him, honestly still being too deep in the waking-up process to want to do much anyway. He frowned somewhat at that, taking to shifting a little so he could sit up in the slime. "I woke you then?"

GC: "As cute as it is of you to worry about that, I'm just going to say it's not an easy task to wake me up, so no, I was already sort of half awake... I think." She grumbled under her breath about it being "too early to remember things that were so very vital to one's existence" as she pushed herself up next to him, letting the slime languorously drip off her shoulders.

CG: I'm... sensible, is all. Ridiculously sensible. It's not exactly like you've had a fucking overabundance of rest as of late." He countered, hesitating for a moment before carefully reaching over and brushing some of the clots of slime out of her hair, a retaliation for the lick and the nuzzling perhaps. He quirked an eyebrow at the mumbled words, catching a few but not quite enough, deciding to just focus on the task at hand for now.

GC: Pressing her head into his hand, she pouted. "Ridiculous this, ridiculous that. My sensibility has been perfectly fine as of late, thank you very much." Her mock frown dissipating into a smile, she couldn't help but giggle as she felt his fingers work through her hair; It felt a lot nicer than she was willing to admit. "What I'd like to know is how Mr. Itty Bitty Shoutypants can go from a being total grouch to an affectionate softy in under one second flat."

CG: "I thought we settled your sensibility is downright damn questionable." He snorted a little, flicking off some of the slime from his fingers as he continued to thread through her hair diligently. He was removing a blob of the green slurry when he paused to glance at her, dropping his hand and withdrawing it. "Well, maybe _I_ would like to know why you keep calling me small and everything when you almost literally, don't have all that much more room to fucking talk. I'll ignore that softy part because we've covered that already."

GC: "Here, let me tell you a secret. No matter how much taller than me you get, you will still be tiny little Karkat to me. Period." Taking a moment to giggle she quietly added, "Softy." Poking his belly with her index finger, she leaned closer to him, practically daring him to object to her words. Then, deeming herself close enough and comfortable enough, she lay her head on his shoulder, already missing the feeling of his hand in her hair.

CG: He grumbled, probably a little more touched than he would vouch to say, grossly sentimental as it was, and also a little frustrated but that was nothing new. He moved to bat the offending hand away, though when she got closer he didn't do anything, merely dipping his head to nuzzle the top of hers a bit, taking care to mind her horns as he did so, puffs of warm breath ruffling her hair and tickling her scalp. "Sentimental, much?" He murmured softly into her hair.

GC: "Since when have you ever cared for sentimentality, hmm?" She sighed happily, snuggling close to him in the thick, green slime. His breath against her scalp was warm and calming, a feeling she hadn't experienced for a while. Draping an arm cautiously over his chest, she glanced up him, testing how far she could push her luck. It was rare for Karkat to act this affectionately and she was going to make damn sure she milked the opportunity to it's fullest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you find a typo, just leave a comment and I'll fix it asap. This is a whole work in progress, but perhaps in the future, we'll rewrite it into an actual fic instead of just a transcript.


	4. Flight - Act I, scene iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the two newfound companions eat and explore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too sleepy to reread this for typos and other errors. I'll do it in the morning. Thanks for being patient, those of you who have this bookmarked.
> 
> EDIT - Yeah, I checked it over. It should be fine now.

CG: He didn't answer, vouching for silence, glancing down and idly moving to lightly grip her hand, but only just. He didn't remove her arm quite, only choosing to adjust it slightly as he enveloped her hand in his, expression almost thoughtful. "In all fairness, you are asking that from the troll who has a penchant for watching 'god awful' romcoms. Which is a fucking lie of course, my taste in movies is nothing but goddamn excellent." He settled on saying, other things honestly coming to mind, but ultimately just being put to the side. For a later time, maybe.

GC: She shrugged, a content smile on her face. "True, I guess. Oh, and your movies /are/ pretty shitty if you ask me, but once again, I'm talking to a total softy here." Giggling just a tad, she gave his hand a squeeze and laid her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his bloodpusher beating. After a moment of silence, she spoke almost inaudibly. "I owe you my life, Karkat..."

CG: "I bet you haven't even seen more than fucking 5 minutes of any of them." He replied, adjusting his other arm so his hand rested on her shoulder, almost inviting her to get closer but not quite. "Even if it was through alternating between licking and sniffing the screen." He chuckled a little, the sound resonating in his chest and dying off as he sighed contentedly. Glancing down at her a bit later, he squeezed her hand in return. "You don't owe me anything." He nuzzled her head again slightly. "I couldn't let you hang, whether it was me assigned to your trial or not."

GC: She shrugged, pressing closer against him, whether he had invited her or not. "I guess I would have done the same thing. What I said about..." She swallowed heavily before continuing. "About hanging you... You know I didn't mean it, right? I just... wanted to keep you safe." She sighed, a deep frown tugging at her lips as she looked away from his face. After a moment she gave his hand a hesitant squeeze, tilting her head up to smell his expression.

CG: He grimaced at the thought, memories from the day before and distorted snippets from his dreams coming back to mind as well. "...Yeah, I know." Of course at the time, he just about had a heart attack, grief, frustration, and above all, the threat of loss suppressing the more reasonable part of him that called her out on her bluff. His mind had prioritized–-albeit horribly so to some degree--focusing on the major issue and merely shoving aside those... particular matters which would only act as obstacles in the end. Namely, his fear of her possible sincerity, it leaching off of sweeps-old paranoia and worry. "If I were in your place, I have a feeling I'd say something similar."

GC: "No... You wouldn't. What I did was cruel..." She began shifting away from him, her broken eyes downcast and ashamed. She recalled the cold words she had spoken the day before, shuddering as she slipped her arms around herself, slowly letting go of his hand. Taking a deep breath and shaking her head was all she could manage, staring blankly at the green slime around her.

CG: He frowned, letting her pull away only to shift closer to her himself. "I forgive you, you know. I was more concerned about you than... what you would do. Asking you that in the first place was a fucking desperate move on my part." He paused before looking down and continuing quietly. "I figured you would say something else, yes, then making you see where I was coming from but... I don't blame you for saying what you did. It was your last card against mine. If it had come down to it, hell, I wondered if I'd have to knock you out or... something, so I could get you out."

GC: She giggled quietly and gave him a light nudge. "You? Knocking me out? I'd love to see you try." She smirked up at him, pressing closer with ease. "Oh wait! But I won't be able to!" Her laugh was light an airy as she lay her head down carefully on his shoulder, searching absentmindedly for his hand with hers. Letting herself rest in that position for a good minute, she finally let her smile drop as she realized this was not her cocoon at home. "We're going to have to get back on the road soon..."

CG: "I was the head of the most lethal combat unit on this damn planet, I'm pretty sure I could have managed." He gripped her hand again, pulling her closer slightly as he rolled his eyes at the expected jab at herself. He sighed, taking to tracing the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb. "Yeah, we definitely can't stay here... Rundown as all hell and still too close for my liking. They'll be coming through the area, searching for the runaway former head legislator and threshecutioner. We'll move in another night or so. One, you need to get something in your system before you fucking collapse into a pile of bones and dust and two, we should have a look around the other hives. See if there's anything that could help us. An indication of where the hell we even are would be nice..."

GC: "Well if we're staying here anyway, do we really have to do it now?" She groaned, nuzzling into him happily. "You're pretty comfortable you know." And then her stomach rumbled. She giggled, tugging gently at his hand as she began to stand up. "Guess not." Peering over the edge of the cocoon, she sniffed about for her clothes and carefully stepped onto the floor as soon as she found them. She let go of his hand, gathering her clothes and quickly holding them against her chest to at least somewhat cover herself.

CG: "When was the last time you even... Actually, never mind, think it would be better if I went without knowing." He sighed, standing up soon after her, swiping and shaking off slime before stepping out of the pod, keeping his gaze averted as he continued. "Lets just focus on finding something to eat. Any ideas?" He asked, turning his back to her and going over to pick up his own clothes.

GC: Shaking the slime off herself, she slipped into her clothes, examining the tear in her shirt from the day before. "Aw, now I'm starting to wish I didn't rip the shirt." She scrunched up her nose before shrugging and making her way to the door. Exploring the hive once more, she managed to relocate the nutrition block. Rummaging through the meal vault, she found a few re-heatable frozen foods and began looking for a safe, fire retardant re-heater box. "Hey Karkat! I think I found something we can eat!"

CG: "When we can, we'll have to find you something better to wear, especially when it starts getting cold." He shrugged on his undershirt along with his pants, forgoing the armor for now. Afterward, he followed her back into the nutritionblock, quirking an eyebrow skeptically at the packages of frozen food. "I'm surprised the electricity here is still working. Did you even check the expiration dates or what?" Judging by the look of the hive and its contents, it didn't necessarily seem ancient, just... long since abandoned by whoever.

GC: She leaned over and sniffed closely at the packages, giving them a quick lick to read the date. "They seem alright. It's a little weird though, isn't it? I mean we find this abandoned hive with working a recuperacoon and electricity?" Slowly opening the reheatificator, she was barely surprised to find that it worked as well. She shoved the two packets of food inside and set the timer before turning to him with a perplexed look.

CG: "And food that isn't ancient as hell or covered in blue fur..." He crossed his arms, taking to leaning against the counter and returning the look with his own, his brow furrowed curiously. "If those dates are still good, this place couldn't have been this way for long unless someone else is around and keeping it at least partially up and running." He frowned, just about none of the ideas he had thought of making much sense. "You hear about any fucking catastrophe in this area back there or? If there was anything I didn't catch a whiff worth shit of it."

GC: She furrowed her brow in thought. "I would have heard at least something if there was one... What if all this damage was really recent? Wouldn't that make this place really obvious to those searching for us? I mean it's not even that far away." Tension finding its way into her shoulders, she frowned. They'd probably have to leave soon if that was the case, but this place had piqued her interest and she didn't want to go without exploring for a bit.

CG: "... We need to get moving. We'll do a quick look around this place and the other hives, see if there's anything worth picking up. After that we can hit the road again, this isn't exactly an ideal place to make a last stand." He glanced around, almost expecting one of the walls to give in honestly, but no. The hive was quiet, save for the beeping of the reheatificator. "Your cane is back in the scuttlebuggy when you're ready to look around the other places."

GC: "In that case, I say we eat and go." She swung the reheatificator's door open, grabbing hungrily at her breakfast and tossing him his fair share in the process. "Bon appetite." Eating quickly and quietly, she managed to finish without burning her tongue. With a content sigh, she rubbed her belly before speaking. "I think I'll go on ahead and get my cane. I'll meet you by the scuttlebuggy when you're ready." Brushing past him, she shot him a grin as she made her way to the garage.

CG: After haphazardly handling the packet of tossed food, he had torn it open, setting it on the counter to let it cool for a moment before nodding to her as she left. "I'll be there in a moment." He couldn't say he was quite as adept at wolfing down hot food, without burning anything anyway, nor was he too keen on doing so. He munched on the contents thoughtfully, pushing off of the counter and deciding to pull open a few drawers and cabinet doors only to find them empty save for a few dustrodents and spiders. He pursed his lips, not sure what else he was expecting, the whole situation just seeming more than a little odd. He was about to close the last of the cabinet doors before he noticed something out of the corner of his eye; a little marking by the looks of it, scratched into the far corner of the shelf and just barely visible. He turned, narrowing his eyes, the scratches depicting what looked like a... cave? Maybe that was just him. Whatever it was, it didn't seem like much if anything. Frowning, he closed the cabinet door, downing the rest of his food and swiping up their wrappers, wanting to leave as little of a trail as possible for their pursuers. He left to go to the garage, going over to his side and opening the door to get at his sickle. "So, guess we head out to the hive over?" He said, glancing over at Terezi as he straightened back up, gesturing in the direction of the street.

GC: "Guess so." She muttered, reaching for her cane inside the vehicle when he'd found her. She was also reaching for the javelin still in the back seat, but had stupidly decided to get it from the front. Stretching to grasp it she finally pulled herself out of the scuttlebuggy. "So are we walking or what? It doesn't seem like there's anyone around and if we leave the car out front, it would be suspicious."

CG: "We'll walk. The car's pretty hidden in here and I'd rather not waste gas. Who knows when we'll be getting any more and if we'll still have the car by then." He said, walking around the buggy and searching the wall for the button to the garage door, eventually finding it and pressing it, allowing the door to retract upwards if with a fair amount of noise. "Not to mention we don't exactly have any forms of payment or any inconspicuous ways to steal gas from a fucking station."

GC: "In that case, walking it is." She grinned, propping her cane up on her shoulder as if it were a parasol. "Shall we?" Without letting him answer, she strolled onto the street, looking around for any signs of trouble before beginning to happily make her way to the hive next door. Both moons were full and bright, casting dim light on the path in front of her. Stopping to give him time to catch up, she breathed in the fresh air, happier than ever to be out of the damp dungeon she had been held in.

CG: He trailed behind her, glancing around the empty streets once, suddenly feeling incredibly vulnerable, a sense only amplified by his lack of armor and his only weapon being his short-bladed sickle. He shook himself a little, picking up the pace so he was following behind her more closely, reminding himself to not get jumpy before anything actually happened. That and Terezi happened to take both the huge-ass javelin and her sword, her no doubt being more than capable with both. Something told him it wasn't just the emptiness of the place getting to him though; there was another thing--he didn't know what--setting his nerves back on edge. Besides the suspiciously functional appliances inside otherwise ruined as fuck houses that is. He sighed, striding ahead of her up to the front door of the other hive, hesitating a moment before letting the door swing open slowly.

GC: She caught up, standing next to him and peering into the hive. "Do you think this one's safe?" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper as she took a step inside. The front room was dark and desolate, only a moth-eaten couch standing in the middle. Reaching out an arm, she searched for a light switch and flicked on the lights, not that it really helped her much. She motioned for Karkat to follow, already creeping towards the other rooms. Again she found a nutritionblock and a respiteblock, just like in the other hive. The furniture in the respiteblock of this hive however was much more extensive, the block harboring a desk covered in scattered papers and several tall mirrors set against the wall. Upon closer examination, the mirrors revealed small symbols etched into their frames and oddly enough, the desk had the same symbols, messily carved into it's surface.

CG: "I would think so... If we had any neighbors, they would have stopped by to say 'hi' by now, yeah?" He kept behind her, nevertheless keeping a lookout for anything that might be in back of them. He walked inside the respiteblock with her after glancing inside the other blocks for a moment and moving on. Not for the first time since they had been here did he find himself wondering exactly what was this place's deal, the odd set up picking at paranoia and confusion. "I mean, it's not like this place has gotten any new visitors recently... right?" He mused aloud, flicking his gaze over the mirrors, and moving over to the desk, looking over some of the sparse papers. They were yellowed with age, only a few seeming to have some faded scribbling on it. Arching an eyebrow he moved them aside, leaning down to inspect the markings more closely, recognizing the cave-like one from the other hive among them. "Suppose these guys visited each other often..." He wondered more or less to himself, tracing over the symbols with his fingers.

GC: She came up behind him, reaching out to trace the symbols with her fingers. "Do you have any idea what they mean?" She murmured curiously, turning her head to face his. When she pulled her finger away, she examined it, surprised to find that there was no dust whatsoever. Either the place had been abandoned recently, or their was someone around to keep it clean.

CG: "Not a clue," he admitted, withdrawing and staring down the markings, brow furrowed. "I saw this one though in the hive we were staying at," he said, tapping lightly on the symbol. "As far as I can tell it's showing a cave or some kind of opening. Could have been the same guy, could have been a thing between them, I'm not sure..." He stepped back, frowning and turning to walk over to one of the mirrors. Narrowing his eyes he ran his fingers along the length of its frame, noting the same symbols. Arrows, caves, ... claws? Hell if he knew. "They're over here too..."

GC: Slowly walking over to the mirrors, she ran her hands around the frames, touching the symbols one by one. "What if it's some sort of code?" As she continued feeling the frame, her finger ran over a slight bump, raised above the rest of the frame. Weird. She could feel it shift a little when she moved her finger over it. Simply shrugging, she paid it no mind, assuming that it was just a design flaw, yet as she was about to leave the room and explore the rest of the hive, the sound of a far away engine made her freeze in fear. "Karkat? Please don't tell me I'm the only one who hears that."

CG: "I wouldn't be surprised... Makes more sense than anything else." He sighed, dropping his arm and folding it with the other against his chest. The symbols weren't exactly archaic, they were just... simply shapes and lines, nothing complex. He was torn between feeling like he was looking into this too closely and yet, not closely enough, like he was missing something bigger. He shook his head, about to say that they should move on and start to leave himself when he paused, straining his ear to catch the sound, tensing when he did. "Actually, I would have preferred if it was just you... Stay here. I'm going to take a look." He doesn't wait for her to comment or protest, striding out of the respiteblock, back into the main room. Pressing against the wall, he carefully shifted the half-eaten curtain aside a little, narrowing his eyes. It was still out for a moment, but then there was the flash of lights, no doubt seeking to reveal any movements normally sheltered by the dark. Soon enough, there was some suspiciously subjugglator-like silhouettes stalking from afar, their presence alone shooting a spike of fear into Karkat's bloodpusher. Hounded by a few large bloodwhiffers, they slowly made their way through the development, picking through the debris and nearing the last standing hives. Clenching his jaw, he quickly made his way back to the respiteblock, sickle back in hand. "We've got to get the fuck out of here. Now."

GC: "How?! Even if we somehow manage to make it back to the scuttlebuggy, we'll never be able to drive out of here fast enough!" Her voice strained in a hoarse whisper as she looked around wildly, trying to come up with some sort of plan. Grabbing his hand, she tugged him urgently towards the nutrition block, flinging open the meal vault and stocking up on as much food as she could hold. Then rushing back into the respiteblock, she dropped the food carefully and pulled down the curtain from a window on the opposite side of the block, proceeding to wrap the food in it as if it were a bag.

CG: "Leave it, if we're getting out of here we'll have to do so quickly and quietly." He clenched his hand, moving back over to the door of the respiteblock, straining to hear any sounds indicating where the subjugglators were now. "We'll leave out the back when they search the other hive first. It's a fuckton larger than this one so that'll give us a little time. Keep going and maybe we can lose them in the woods." He paused, listening again for any sound, expecting them to have found the car by now and promptly starting to tear the other place apart. "Weird, would have thought they'd start flipping the fuck out over there by now-" The swing of the hive's front door cut him off. Tensing he stepped back slowly into the respiteblock, gripping his sickle grimly.

GC: Spooked by the sudden slam of the door, she backed up into one of the mirrors, her hand knocking against the frame. Suddenly and without warning, she found herself falling further backwards. The air became cold, the light colors of the hive becoming dark as she felt narrow walls around her. Quickly examining her surroundings, she stepped out from what seemed to be a tunnel inside the mirror and grabbed his hand with an iron-like grip. Jerking him with her, she leapt back into the tunnel and felt the walls for a bump that she was positive existed. Finding it after a few seconds of searching, she slammed it with her hand, sighing a breath of relief as the mirror slid shut. She then turned, one hand feeling along the walls of the dark tunnel, the other still grasping his hand despite her palms being hot and sweaty. Without a word, she made her way down roughly cut stairs, ever deeper past the twists and turns of the passage.

CG: And not a moment too soon. Outside the mirror, a pair of subjugglators had found their way into the block, great horns scraping a little against the ceiling. "Could have motherfucking sworn I heard something here..." One of them growled, only to be answered by a sharp, but similarly guttural voice. "Your auricular sponge clots are hallucinating something wicked, then. Looks like they've flown the motherfucking coop." A pause, and then what sounded like the shifting of a few packages, cardboard crushing under something heavy. "...And recently too. Come on, they're probably scrabbling like motherfucking pests looking for a dirthole to curl up and die in a hive over or something. Lets move. The quicker we get back to Makara, all the motherfucking better." Heavy footsteps resounded through the hive as the other grunted and followed his companion out, grunting something that sounded like agreement. Karkat had trailed behind up until then, caught between a surprise-based distrust of the passage and wanting to catch a bit of what they said, wanting to make sure they were moving on and such. Afterward he picked up the pace again, walking uneasily beside Terezi, keeping one hand along the wall. Where the hell even were they anymore?


	5. Society - Act II, scene i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the criminal duo discover the refugee organization.

GC: After staying quiet for a few minutes longer, she slowed down and whispered, "I think we'll be safe in here for a little while." Though she had relaxed, her grip on Karkat was tight as ever and she wasn't going to let go until she knew for sure that they were safe. Now traversing the steps at a much slower pace, she took the time to sniff around. Nothing but darkness and rock. That's when she caught the scent of something else... Something alive. Swinging her arm out to block Karkat from moving any further, she hissed a quiet "stop," taking a moment to get a better whiff of the smell. Definitely something troll. Yet there was no hint of grape at all. Instead, the tiniest amount of some kind of tropical mix floated in the air, as if someone had taken different blood castes and blended them together like a delicious hemospectrum smoothie. After another beat of silence, she turned her head back to him ever so slightly and murmured, "We aren't alone down here. There are lowbloods further down. I'm sure of it."

CG: "Whatever 'here' is..." He sighed, losing sense of whether they were going up or down or whatever at this point, the pathway seeming to go on for a long while, just turning now and then. It was wide enough to allow them to walk beside each other, if somewhat on the cramped side of things, and it was oddly cool as opposed to stuffy or damp, even, like the underground-level dungeon back at the legislative and judicial buildings, almost like it was ventilated somehow. He frowned, continuing up until Terezi halted him. He glanced over at her, quirking an eyebrow and tensing again. "Come again?" He paused, flicking his gaze forward to regard the yawning darkness apprehensively. "Guess that would explain our hive situation up top... Question is, are we walking into some fucking freaky-ass gathering here or what? I don't think we really need to escape another shithive maggots religion-driven group for another couple of sweeps or so."

GC: "Well we can't just stay here. Those clown freaks might be up there for days!" Giving his arm a slight tug, she continued very slowly down the steps and opened her mouth just a tad to try to get a better sense of her surroundings. Up ahead, she could smell the darkness being smothered by a gentle light and if she listened carefully enough, she could have sworn she heard a few whispers. Swallowing heavy she continued forward, not letting the troll beside her stop, but as they neared the source of the light, she pressed closer to him and held his arm with both hands.

CG: As they walked on, a draft became noticeable, blowing just ever slightly past, chilling skin and ruffling hair. Taking the initiative and edging forward first, they approached what seemed to be a sort of archway, something that looked like it was normally blocked and sealed off. It was open now though, allowing them to cautiously slink into a much larger area. A cavern, to be exact. No less, true to Terezi's word, a cavern filled with a small community of burgundybloods, browns, yellows, and greens. Now and then there'd be a pair of blue eyes but not often, at least, as far as Karkat could tell. To be honest he was avoiding meeting their eyes, as they all seemed to be looking rather intently at them, at him in particular. They seemed to have stopped right in the middle of whatever they were doing, some still holding tools, fabrics, bowls, and the like. And now they were gathering. And clamoring. Fantastic... Before he could offer a tentative greeting possibly followed by a small step-back precaution, a tall, dark-brownblooded troll stepped over to them, raising a hand to quiet the crowd. "Peace. They just got here, barely." She frowned, looking down at them curiously. "State your names, if you would." She said, eyeing them warily as if she was asking something much more confidential.

GC: Hesitating a moment, she spoke loudly enough for all the trolls around them to hear. "I'm Terezi Pyrope and this is my friend Karkat. Karkat Vantas." The mood of the trolls populating the cavern was not hostile or even mildly threatening, but rather calm instead. Giving Karkat's hand a squeeze, she loosened her grip bit by bit until she found herself letting go. "We came down here to hide... We didn't realize we weren't alone." Awkwardly shuffling closer to the troll next to her, she looked around the crowd nervously.

CG: The murmurs seemed to rise at that before falling back into something more mellow at a look from the brownblood. Turning back to them, she nodded, seeming to relax a little. "Very well then. I can't say you could have found any place better as far as hiding goes." She smiled, a little wryly. Karkat kept close to Terezi, likewise keeping a wary look about him. "Don't suppose you could explain what you have going on here exactly?" He asked, forcing himself to meet the other troll's eyes. The brownblood tilted her head somewhat, seeming to consider something before continuing. "It's a bit of a long story to be honest. You're better off being settled in your blocks first and then getting to the meat of the matter when it's not so..." She trailed off, gesturing vaguely to the rest of the cavern. "Overwhelming I suppose? Trust me it'll be easier that way. In the mean time, if you would follow my two friends over there, they'll find you some blocks to recuperate in. " She gestured over to a greenblood and yellowblood standing off to the side. Karkat hesitated, bewilderment and paranoia once again not mixing well, though they didn't quite have much other choice. Biting his tongue, he nodded to the taller troll and took Terezi's hand again, tugging her along to the others before he had second-thoughts. Sneaking a glance over at her, he seemed to ask if she was sure about this, his mouth dipping down into an almost skeptical frown and brow furrowing in more or less restrained worry.

GC: Giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, she nodded briefly and stepped closer to him. She followed the two trolls swiftly, silently urging Karkat not to ask too many questions by pursing her lips ever so slightly at him. The cavern had become warm from the gathering of the trolls, but as they were lead down a long corridor, the air became cool and refreshing again. Makeshift doors lined the walls on either side, leading into small blocks containing very few personal possessions. Some doors had names scratched on to them, others were blank. When the group finally stopped, Terezi found herself standing in front of two unmarked blocks. "These will be your respiteblocks for now. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to. If you have any questions, simply come find us," said the yellowblood before bowing her head and brushing past both her and Karkat, tugging the greenblood along with her. Terezi nodded her head in return before turning to the troll next to her. "We're safe now. You can relax." With a comforting smile, she rubbed his arm soothingly. "We should probably check out our rooms."

CG: "Relaxing falls into the same category as sleeping; doesn't come very easily." He muttered, breaking the silence he had kept as the two trolls had lead them, choosing to ignore the curious glances he noticed now and then. "May not be hostile clowns but it's still weird as all hell." Choosing to look over the neighboring makeshift doors he searched for any of the symbols from outside, giving up moments later after finding nothing but names and a respective sign or so. He shook his head, moving forward and opening the door to the block, a recuperacoon and a desk lying directly inside, both of which a little worse for wear but still functional. Off to the side was a hygieneblock and along the wall was a small bureau, not unlike the blocks above them. "Did they even say where to find them? I don't think anyone's mentioned a name around here, save for us..." He said, glancing around.

GC: She whacked his arm lightly, aiming to chastise rather than to injure. "Come on, they said they'd talk with us when the commotion died down. We should be grateful we actually received their help." She frowned at him, opening the door to her own block. It was the same as the inside of his and looked quite cozy, save for the fact that the walls were that of the cave. "Still, I don't think we should separate yet. I never like being caught off guard."

CG: He grumbled at that, following her inside her own block. "We're literally right across from each other. If there was any trouble all we'd have to really do is give a holler. Don't you think it'd come off as sort of... I don't know, contradicting toward their hospitality so to speak? I mean, sure they probably know we're more than a little untrustworthy of them and vice versa, but still. Do you really think they would pull something?" He inquired, not so much as skeptical as honestly trying to get an idea of how she actually felt about this. If he wasn't the only one feeling more than a little wary, that could very well indicate something other than them being a pair of paranoid runaways.

GC: Smirking and raising an eyebrow at him, she simply remarked, "You've changed sides so quickly?" She laughed nudging him playfully. "Alright, how about I rephrase what I said: I don't think we should separate yet because I really don't want to be left alone in an unfamiliar place." Narrowing her eyes, she added, "Can you really blame the poor, little blind girl?" Though her spirits had lifted at their good luck, she was already worn from the emotional stress of their short night. Then, with a change of tone, she spoke quietly. "I'm not sure why, but I trust these people. They seem... safe."

CG: "Less changing sides, more not wanting to offend anyone and risk bodily harm." He corrected her, referring to her earlier gesture and the fact that if these people happened to be, per se actually short-circuits, he'd rather not do something outright that would come off as an insult to them. Speculate, sure. Anything more than that didn't quite strike him as particularly wise. Snorting, he nudged her back a little, commenting. "You're anything but some poor little girl." At her change in voice he glanced down at her, expression softening somewhat. "Yeah well, guess they're definitely better so far as opposed to our alternative..." He conceded, flicking his gaze upwards to the rock above their heads. "Wonder how far down we actually are..."

GC: "As long as there are no cave ins, I don't particularly care." She giggled before walking around and examining the other blocks in her clearly fine establishment. After a few minutes, she peaked into the hygieneblock and then turned to him. "You know what? I think now would be a great time to take a shower since I haven't had a chance in, what, 5 or 6 days? I suggest you do the same." She gave him a warm smile before disappearing into the block for a much needed bathing session. The hygieneblock was nothing special, but she was delighted to find it had running water. Sure it wasn't the warmest water, but it would do and before she knew it, she had already stripped down and stepped into the ablutiontrap.

CG: "Are you suggesting I've actually been fucking rotting off your cartilaginous nub?" He inquired, giving her a look as she went, brow raising somewhat at the possible accusation but only just. He allowed himself a very slight smile to match hers before slinking off to his own block and taking advantage of the admittedly missed presence of a more or less proper hygieneblock. Slipping out of his clothes he sat down in the water, scrubbing off the collected dirt and grime from the past couple of days and just taking a moment to relax, soaking in the water for a bit despite his earlier comments. It was a good as time as any and the water helped take some of the tension out of his back, allowing him to feel more on the refreshed side when he got out, throwing back on his old clothes before heading back into the main part of the block.

GC: Not wanting to spend too much time just soaking in the trap, she washed herself at a moderate pace before stepping out and drying herself. Then, slipping back into her torn clothes, she threw the towel over her head and sauntered over to her desk. Absentmindedly drying her hair, she sighed, reaching for a sheet of paper and doodling to the best of her ability. She continued this until her hair was mostly dry and then stood, letting the towel slide down around her shoulders as she made her way into the hall. Shivering at the change in air temperature, she knocked gently on the door next to hers, cracking it just the tiniest bit open and peering inside. "Can I come in?"

CG: He was in the process of shaking out the remaining droplets of water, using a cloth to pat his hair down one more time before getting up and tossing it into the sink. "Yeah, you're good." Rubbing at his eyes, he had sat back at the desk, having since taken out the maroon contacts he had worn for god knows how long. If it was only for the time being... He sighed, looking back over at her and nodding. "We will have to ask about new clothes, especially with you. Don't think it should be much of a problem..." He commented absently, blinking again as he was still adjusting to the slight difference.

GC: She cocked her head, approaching him quickly and grabbing hold of both of his arms as she stared into his face before cracking a grin. "Your eyes smell much better now." She giggled, releasing him and tugging the towel back over her head, continuing to rub at her hair. "But yeah, new clothes are definitely a good idea. I'm pretty sure, with my luck, I'll end up ripping this shirt again to use the cloth for something else." With a shrug, she flopped down in his desk chair, rolling her shoulders to release at least some tension.

CG: "Hmph, wonder if our hosts would say anything similar..." He shirked away, getting up from the chair and moving to put the contacts somewhere safe for the time being, depositing them in the first drawer of the bureau. "What, you think we'll need to break into another car again?" He asked, chuckling to himself a bit. He walked back over to where she sat, taking to leaning against the desk instead. "Pretty sure that old thing wouldn't last much longer as a shirt if it took another hijacking to be honest."

GC: "You'd be surprised how I can make do, even with half a shirt. You forget how resourceful I can be. For example..." She pulled the towel off her head, whipping it around the back of his neck and grabbing the other side, yanking him closer. "This thing can make a pretty damn good weapon." She giggled, letting the towel slide off of his neck. "Besides, we left our scuttlebuggy up on the surface and I'm pretty sure that if they saw it, it's been tampered with or taken. You'll never know when I need to use the rest of this thing to get us another one."

CG: With something that can only be described as a "Hrk!", Karkat was pulled forward, him bracing a hand over an armrest to stop himself from getting into a very awkward position, half-naked cuddles already being a thing or not. Swallowing, he straightened back up, rubbing at his neck a little before conceding. "Trust me, I'm well aware you could probably turn that thing into a proper fucking noose if you felt like it." He grimaced somewhat, leaning back up against the desk. "Yeah, they probably would have taken it in for evidence or something. One more charge on top of treason, yeah? Hmm... You know, maybe we should figure out a way to break into cars that doesn't involve ripping up clothing and all. Just a thought."

GC: "Well I mean, you're /supposed/ to do it with a clothes hanger, but I didn't have that last time so I had to make do." She rolled her eyes, smirking at the sound he had made. Standing up, she nudged him as she brushed past, examining the differences between his block and hers. There weren't many, but it kept her occupied as she thought. "We should be out of here within two days. If we leave tomorrow, it's still too dangerous, but any later than the day after and we might have ourselves what you might call 'a situation'."

CG: "Ah, good to know you're an expert in the field." He remarked, brushing off the jab and watching her as she explored around his block. "You think they'll be gone entirely by then? What if they bring in another group and they stick around collecting evidence for more than the two days?" He hesitated before continuing, crossing his arms over his chest. "And what kind of situation are you thinking of exactly? Afraid to say I can't read minds all that well. Yours isn't much of an exception."

GC: "We can't just feed off of these people's hospitality for that long. Plus, staying in the same spot for so long gives them more time to find us and to be honest, I'm too nervous and impatient to stick around down here for longer than necessary." She sighed, rubbing her temples with one hand and dropping her voice. "You forget how long I was locked in that dungeon. I haven't fully recuperated yet and I've developed this weird anxiety when I'm underground like this. I just feel so... weak." Pausing for a moment, she sighed again. "Sorry, that was off topic. I just... It's not safe too spend too much or too little time down here."

CG: "You don't need to apologize." He muttered, pursing his mouth and pushing himself off from the desk to walk back to her. "We're both uneasy about staying here, but just realize if it becomes our only option there's not much else to it." As reassuring gesture he rested a hand on her shoulder, gripping her slightly like he could grasp the tension itself. "We're not leeching, we're not trapped, and you sure as fuck are not anything close to weak. If our friends above spend a few more days than we scheduled sniffing around, I'm not sure we will have much other choice than to stay here until they pass and could be just my auricular sponge clots but, that sounds pretty fucking necessary to me."

GC: She nodded slowly, looking up at him. "Thanks, Karkat..." Staying quiet for a moment, she finally pulled away, turning to the door. "We should probably go find out what the situation here is. I'm sure the commotion has died down by now." She tossed her towel into the room, hoping she'd remember to come back for it later, before holding the door open for him. Her face had become almost businesslike, but she broke the serious expression to flash him a quick smile as she motioned for him to follow her. "We can probably find someone back where we came in."

CG: "Hm, maybe miss tall, dark, and vague as fuck got tied up with other things..." He padded to the door, following her out into the hallway and down the rocky tunnel. "... Any of this remind you of that kid's deal by chance?" He asked quietly, glancing over at her as they walked through the underground area, makeshift lights flickering now and then, casting elongated shadows on the uneven surfaces and sparks of unfinished machinery echoing from dark crannies.

GC: "Look who's finally catching on." She grinned back at him, her red glasses eerily reflecting the dim lights. "I knew there were rebellions all over the nation, I just didn't know to what extent. I guess we're going to find out now..." She frowned a moment and turned to him. "And before you say anything, that kid wasn't involved." Her face softened, turning back to a light smile as she walked down the hall just a few steps ahead of him.

CG: "Rebellion is a bit of a strong word don't you think? These guys hardly look like they'd last half a night outside of this place." He started again hesitantly, holding back a moment to let her settle her point and move on. He trailed behind her back into what he guessed was the central cavern, the crowd having since dispersed though there a few trolls her and there seemingly running errands. Off to the side, was the brownblood from earlier, though she was now engaged in something that looked suspiciously like an argument with a shorter greenblood. He had his arms crossed tightly against his chest while she seemed to struggle to keep her hand-talk on the down-low.

GC: "Well a resistance is a resistance." She shrugged before noticing the argument going on. "Should we... talk to her now?" Furrowing her brow, she could practically smell the heat of the argument. She stood patiently beside Karkat, slowly shifting from foot to as she observed. "Maybe we can find someone else to help us around. What do you think? I mean none of these guys seem too bad, right?" She sighed, looking at the arguing pair for only a few moments longer before looking over to him quizzically.

CG: "... let him keep his weapon? They haven't even been here for more than a couple of /hours/! We have no idea wh-" Just as Karkat was to suggest finding someone else to speak with and make a very discreet slip, the taller of the two trolls looked over to notice him and Terezi, her companion hushing up remarkably quickly. Muttering something along the lines of "We'll talk later", the greenblood took his leave, giving a slight nod to Karkat and Terezi as he walked by to another part of the facility. Sighing, the remaining troll seemed to take a moment to collect herself before returning her full attention back to the two of them, offering a small if strained smile. "Sorry about that, I was actually on my way to talk to you guys but something came up as you could see... Or hear."


	6. Society - Act II, scene ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karkat slips up and Ysirem is quick to notice.  
> However, it isn't without a slip up of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow sorry for not updating so long  
> im just trying to stretch this out for as long as i can until parp restores the part of our rp that was lost when it crashed
> 
> also, sorry for the lack of illustrations recently  
> our artist can no longer draw for this fic

GC: "It's perfectly alright. We were just a bit curious as to what was going on here." She smiled almost too brightly in return, nudging Karkat in the hopes that he would remember to keep a leash on his language. "So what is this place? We found it by accident when we were trying to hide and an explanation would really be helpful, right Karkat?" She looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to agree with her.

CG: "Yeah, right." He gave her a look before quickly glancing back up at the brownblood. "Some operation you have here; it would help not to be left in the dark." The tall troll nodded to them. "Yes, of course, of course. It's no doubt a bit of a, ah, lets say jump for you I would assume. If you'll follow me, we can talk somewhere more... suitable. More private. Oh, um, sorry. The name's Ysirem by the way, proper introductions sort of slipped the pan earlier." She rambled off, turning to lead them down the hall opposing the one they came from, this one seeming to be composed of less respiteblocks and more odds and ends, some rooms seeming to contain just smoke and machinery, the smell of oil and burnt things clouding up this section.

GC: She glanced uneasily at Karkat and then back at Ysirem before following her down the long passage. Wrinkling up her nose, she remarked, "You sure have got a lot of machinery down here..." Ysirem turned her head, speaking over her shoulder. "Of course we do. This isn't a rock we're living under, afterall." Terezi simply nodded back and laughed awkwardly. So much machinery was a little odd, wasn't it? The hives at the surface seemed to have recently been visited, so why did they need the machines? Trailing after the brownblood into a medium sized block, she found that there were several couches surrounding a table in the center. "Welcome to my respiteblock. Please, make yourselves at home," said Ysirem.

CG: "Well... it is, isn't it? Which is why you'd need ventilation, support against cave-ins, and so on, so forth." Karkat commented, arching an eyebrow and heading inside the block, only sitting down after Terezi had. "Especially if you have more of those passageways all around this area... To prevent some huge-ass sink hole from forming, you would need to construct the proper support. Unless I'm looking at this all wrong..." He trailed off, resting his arms over his legs as he looked over to Ysirem as she came in, shutting the door behind herself.

GC: "You're absolutely correct! Without our machinery, life down here would be absolutely impossible for more than a few days, but some of us have been here for several years already." Terezi raised her eyebrows, asking, "Years? What for?" Ysirem sat down in a seat opposite them, beginning her story. "Everyone here, like you presumably, is a refugee. Ranging anywhere from a maroonblood to a oliveblood and sometimes even a tealblood like yourself, trolls from all over have slowly gathered in underground systems like this one to escape the cruel ways of life up on the surface. Hunted by highbloods for fun and sport, we have hidden ourselves seeking-" Ysirem bit her lip, realizing she may have revealed too much.

CG: "Seeking...?" Karkat went on for her, slowly turning his hand in a "go on" gesture, not willing to let her slip go. "And for the record, _the_ Highbloods, the subjugglators, sure most of them are off their swaychair, but its not an all out caste versus war like it was centuries ago." He said, a part of him feeling obligated to defend on behalf of the system he had fought for for sweeps, becoming one of its higher-ups even. He folded his arms, sitting back a little, having since forgotten about the contacts he had left behind in their block and leaving his bright mutated eyes uncovered.

GC: Ysirem laughed hoarsely, shaking her head. "A mutant like you defending the upper castes?" She narrowed her eyes, leaning closer to the both of them. "Whatever chance either of you had of being trusted down here has decreased to almost zero percent. Until you can prove yourselves trustworthy, our mission will be kept out of sight from you." Terezi interjected a quiet, "But I'm blind," earning her a slightly annoyed shake of the head from Ysirem. "From now you are to be watched at all times. Your weapons will be returned to you soon enough."

CG: He tensed at the word 'mutant', immediately berating himself a hundred times over and reminding himself to hit his head against the wall until his horns were fucking scraped and chipped flat. Sweeps of being careful and he fucked up now of all times? For the mother grub's god-forsaken- He clenched his jaw, exhaling slowly as he forced himself to relax. Standing up, he unhooked the sickle at his hip and set it on the table. "Something tells me your mission isn't worth seeing. I've fought on both sides, so yes, a 'mutant like me' will defend the upper castes. They can be more than you give them credit for."

GC: She stood up hurriedly, her hand already on his arm as a warning to calm down. Her voice was nervous as she blurted out, "Karkat, let's just go. It's not worth our time. Just be glad we have a place to stay for the time being." Then, laying her cane down on the table, she nodded to Ysirem coldly, tugging Karkat out of the room. Once she had pushed him far enough down the hallway to be out of earshot, she turned to him. "Relax. There are more of them then there are of us. Loosing your temper won't help us, got it?" Barely waiting for an answer, she dragged him back to his own block before finally letting go of his arm with a sigh.

CG: " _My_ temper? A bit of common sense and she’s put us on the fucking spotlight while simultaneously shoving us into the dark." He bit out, too busy simmering still to pay much heed and letting her tug him back into the block. Letting the door swing shut behind them, he stalked back over to the drawer, picking up the maroon-colored contacts and bouncing them in his hand a little, his gaze flicking over to the nearby waste container as if he was considering tossing them before shutting them back up in the drawer. They weren’t going to be spending too long down here, he’d need them later… "Can’t believe I fucking forgot these after fucking _sweeps_ , a lot of them right in the center hive of Alternian government, god fucking…" He trailed off, sighing and bracing his arms against the surface of the bureau, steam practically tangible at this point.

GC: "Karkat, it's alright. Nothing that bad happened. We'll be out of here within a few days at most and they sure as hell aren't going to reveal you to the highbloods." Slowly, she stepped towards him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hell, we got really lucky. They've got every right to be suspicious of us, even if they are a tad unfair." She frowned, keeping her own anger down and under control to the point where it was barely noticeable. Peering into his face, she rubbed his back soothingly and mumbled quick phrases of "calm down" and "it'll be fine."

CG: The rigidness in his form ebbed away gradually, her nudging him back into something softer, his shoulders sagging a little after a few moments of that. Rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes, he eventually let his arms drop, his hands curling against the scratched and scuffed surface of the bureau. "I know... I know." He straightened back up, shrugging off her hand or rather, making a poor-ass attempt to. "I'm not really worried about them giving me up to be honest... What got me was her fucking assumption that, as a mutant, I'd immediately just side with her. That I'd just despise highbloods because I'd be their main quarry. Sure, I'm technically not even on the lowest fucking bar of society, I'm not supposed to exist but... I'm not condemning an entire caste section to being the sole, great and terrible douchebag oppressors. I sucked it up and made a position for myself. I didn't expect a whole society to conform on _my_ behalf. It was like saying 'Hey you're lowest than the lowest piece of shit which means you're supposed to fit in right with us and despise the highbloods! Because you know, they're absolutely so fucking terrible to us.'"

GC: "Karkat, I know. I get it, not the same way you do, but I get it and I hate her for it. There's nothing we can do, though... We just have to tough it out for a few days and get the hell out of here." She sighed again, finally letting her hand slip from his shoulder. "It's not our problem that they can't do anything with their lives, but you also have to remember that not every troll is as strong or ambitious as you are. These people just want to lie down and live life easily. Can you blame them?" Suddenly finding her feet quite interesting, she stared blindly down at them. "Don't waste your energy on these people. They aren't worth it."

CG: By the end of his rant he had riled himself up again anew, but it was only a short spark. At her words he deflated again, a long sigh leaving him, his form curling back over slightly and suddenly seeming much more tired than before. "I'm aware, I just..." He looked up from the dull surface of the furniture over to her, his gaze losing the anger it had and cooling into something more like concern. "Terezi, you were the head legislator and a damn good one, if not the best. You know as well as I do how our system works and how little leeway there is; it's do or probably die. That and, yeah, you're at the tail-end of the highblood section but you're not some unreasonable, asshole tyrant."

GC: She smiled thoughtfully, glancing over to him. "That's because people have choices in life. This world isn't just black and white. I chose justice, not a rank. You chose power while remaining a really strong, great person." With a shrug she gave her head a light shake. "Then there are those who choose not to do anything and live in fear of what they do not know or wish to know. It's... sad." She leaned back against the desk, her hands supporting her weight as she observed him. "I know you probably think the people here are weak or lacking ambition or something of the like, but you have to cut them some slack. I'm sure many of them have lost loved ones or lusi."

CG: "I can understand the majority, if not all of them are probably harboring a shitload lot of grief and subsequent blame but..." He paused, eyes flicking down for a moment in thought before looking back up to her. Shifting, he pushed himself off of the bureau and choosing to face her directly, stepping closer to her. "Do you think you'd be somewhere like this, maybe, if I was killed for my blood color earlier on?" He inquired quietly, crossing his arms and gazing down at her with an expression that wasn't passive but not quite negative in any sense of the word, his words holding no sneer or bite to them.

GC: She hesitated, unsure what to say for the first time that evening. "I'm... not sure. I mean I'd probably keep working my way up to the position of head legislator because I'd have a better reason than just simple justice, but I'm glad it didn't have to come to that. More than you might think, actually." She frowned in thought, staring down at her thighs. "I'm also glad you're still here with me. I really don't know what I'd do if they got their grimy hands on you." More tired than she'd originally thought she was, she only shook her head, leaning away from the desk.

CG: He watched her carefully as she spoke, only nodding his head a little when she was done, seeming to take in what she said with an almost pensive look. Stepping away from her, he let his arms drop back to his sides, his fingers coming to drum against the side of his leg as he thought until he turned back to her to comment easily, hoping that it would lighten the atmosphere, even if it was only slightly. "You mean besides hunting their poor asses down and figuring a way to have them swinging from the noose?" He let out a weary sort of laugh that was emptier than he would have liked. Allowing a moment of silence to pass he looked back down, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "Well, same here. It would be an understatement to say it's good to have you around."

GC: Smiling wearily, she kept her voice soft. "That's good to hear, Karkat. It really is." After another moment of silence, she sighed, pulling her glasses off her face and laying them carefully down on the desk. Then, quickly hugging the troll in front of her, she giggled before pulling away. "We've had a long night and I'm exhausted so I think I'm going to hit the 'coon. You should get some rest too, alright?" Stepping towards his door, she said a quiet "goodnight" over her shoulder as she opened it.

CG: "Right..." Not having much of a chance to hug her back, he let her go almost reluctantly. Watching her head toward the door, he nodded, offering a small "goodnight" on his part as she left the block. A part of him urged him to mention her earlier unease with being separated, even if it was only to a small degree, but he pushed it aside and hushed it. Perhaps she had gotten over it somewhat. If so, it was for the better, right? Getting over things is good. A drawn-out sigh leaving him, he turned away from the door, walking to his cocoon and stripping down to his boxers, sleepiness starting to set in with him and make him clumsy with drowsiness. Clambering into the pod, he settled in it, getting used to having one to himself again, though it took him longer than before to finally drift off.

GC: Clambering into her own pod once she reached her block, she remained restless for what seemed to be an eternity before lapsing into an uneasy sleep. Dreams filled with stress, worry and fear swirled in her head and she instantly awoke, sitting up in her cocoon. With a sigh, she slowly stood, climbing carefully out of the pod and throwing a shirt over her head. She hadn't wanted to bother Karkat. He needed his privacy and she felt like she'd been intruding. Yet, it still didn't stop her from quietly tiptoeing into the hall and knocking hesitantly on his door, her arms wrapped around herself as she shivered.

CG: He wasn't so much as sleeping as he was tossing and turning in this partially awake, partially still dreaming state, a knock on the door being more than enough to jerk his conscious fully from it and pull him into a shaky awareness. Taking a moment to calm himself down, he slumped in his pod before sitting up and carefully stepping out of it. Brushing off some of the slime, he padded over to the door, only opening it a crack at first and only opening it more so when he saw who it was. "Terezi? Are you- uh, are you alright?" He asked, words still a little slurred from the last dregs of sleepiness. Blinking a little at the light of the hallway, he looked down at her, still in the process of waking up entirely.

GC: Pursing her lips in a sort of tired embarrassment, she stared down at her bare feet with a shiver and mumbled, "Can I stay with you for a bit? I can't sleep..." When she looked back up at him, she bit her lip and shifted from foot to foot in an attempt to at least sort of keep her legs warm. Suddenly realizing that he must have already been asleep in his cocoon, she blurted, "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

CG: He shook his head, standing aside to let her in. "I was sleeping about as well as you, I think. It's fine." He sighed and rubbed at his eyes a little before looking back to her, seeming just slightly more awake now. "Kind of glad you woke me up actually, the slime isn't helping shit like it's supposed to... Thought that was just with me though."

GC: "We've probably been through a bit too much for the slime to handle." She laughed dryly, nodding her thanks as she hurried inside. "Then again, wouldn't sleeping on just a soft couch or something be worse?" She thought for a moment before shrugging the thought off and moving to lean against his recuperacoon. Her body still ached from being shackled in the dungeons and she absentmindedly rubbed her wrist with the pads of her fingers. She honestly just wanted a full day of rest for once.

CG: He shrugged, shutting the door behind her. "I think it has a slight effect but not much. If we slept on some lounging apparatus or something instead though, something tells me whatever we'd see would be... more vivid? I don't know... Rather not think about it, actually. Can barely get a decent rest with the dreams I have now." He walked back over to her, resting an arm over the side of the cocoon. "You think you could try sleeping again? Or do you want to just stay up for a little longer and... relax I guess?"

GC: "Depends. Is it okay if I sleep with you again?" Her question was hesitant and thick on her tongue when she spoke it. She felt as though she hadn't left Karkat alone at all in the last few days and as much as she loved to tease or annoy him, she didn't want to keep bugging him for things that weren't absolutely necessary. "I mean if not, we can just stay up until I'm tired enough to fall asleep in my own 'coon."

CG: His eyebrows rose a bit at that but he didn't shake his head or decline her, doing quite the opposite actually. Honestly, a main reason he hadn't bothered mentioning their earlier agreement to stay with each other despite finding a relatively safe area to stay at, was that he didn't want to, well, smother her or make her feel like he was. "Either uh- either is fine. It's up to you. If you're staying with me though you might want to get the rest of your clothes, back at your block." He answered, nodding back in the direction of her room.

GC: A grin lit up her face and she leaned closer to him, deviously wiggling her eyebrows. "What's the matter? Afraid what people will think?" She laughed, barely giving him enough time to respond as she hurried out of the block, gathering up the clothes and returning with a cheeky smile still on her face. She dumped her clothing on the chair in front of his desk and made her way back over to the cocoon, eagerly stepping inside.

CG: A flush and a swallowed protest later, he grumbled something too quiet to hear before climbing back into the pod, sinking back into the slime and turning on his side. "For the record, I just didn't want you to have to lass scamper your ass back to your block in just your damn torn shirt and underwear when people are actually up and about." Having said his piece, he nestled himself further into the slime, and laid his head back, closing his eyes, the topic as far as he was concerned indisputably closed.

GC: She only laughed, nudging his shoulder as she made herself comfortable next to him. "Aw, well isn't that just so sweet of you?" Her grin grew as she closed her eyes, sniffing at the expression on his face. "You were totally blushing earlier. Don't even try to deny the remnants of the delicious cherry red on your face." Nestling closer to him, her attempts at teasing were slowly being slurred together as she found herself even more tired than she had realized. She let herself relax, breathing in his scent and letting her head droop gently against his body.

CG: Eyes still closed, he grimaced, but only slightly, letting the observation pass. Too tired to think of a good way to brush off or deny aforementioned coloring in his cheeks, he settled on adjusting a little and moving his arm for her, carefully positioning it underneath and around her, his hand coming to lightly resting on her shoulder. Admittedly more at peace than he was before despite the small amount of jabbing, he dozed off quicker than before, his dreams finally starting to settle when he returns to them and allowing him at least some proper rest for the following night.

GC: Comfortable in his arms, she herself finally drifted to sleep, her dreams swarmed with cherries and tranquility. Shifting only slightly closer to him in her sleep, she soon fell into a dreamless slumber that carried her through the day until nightfall. When she woke, she was pleased to find that the troll who had fallen asleep with her before still occupied the spot next to her, his arms still around her. Sighing quietly against his skin, she pulled herself closer, careful not to wake him up.


	7. Society - Act II, scene iii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow ok, updates 2 days in a row? cool. i might update every monday or something like that actually.
> 
> when i went back to retrieve this chapter, i suddenly realized that if each segment remained as short as it would, this fic would never end, so congratulations, this chapter is essentially 20 pages worth of writing. i counted.
> 
> also, now we have a new [artist](http://falloutbabes.co.vu/) who'll start drawing for us the second he has enough time

CG: Dreams calmed as they were, he found himself slipping in and out of sleep, particularly as night time neared. Eventually, he was rendered just laying there with his eyes closed, attempting to drift back as he did before, but having no luck. It wasn't a bad thing though, he was content for the most part, save he knew the world was moving right along outside, quite a bit of it not exactly favoring them at the moment. Sighing, he moved just to raise his head a little, using his free hand to rub at his eyesbefore reclining back into the slurry. "....Don't suppose you know what time it is?" He asked quietly, knowing her to be awake.

GC: She grumbled tiredly, curling into him as she spoke. "Does it matter? We're in no hurry..." Her eyes were still closed and her body ached for the sleep that could not be continued. After a minute and some effort, she blinked her eyes open, at least somewhat trying to wake herself up. She stretched her arm, draping it around him as she let it relax.

CG: "Yeah, don't think anyone's exactly wanting to talk to us after last night but still..." A small groan escaped him as he moved up just a bit more in the slime, his one arm keeping her close. "Who knows, maybe they'll accuse us of being in fucking diabolical cahoots if we stay in here all night, a pair of heretics in every society 'plotting'."

GC: She let herself relax further into the slime and closed her eyes for a moment before pushing herself up next to him in a sitting position. "I guess you're right, but who cares? Let them. We'll only be here for a few days. Besides, I'm willing to bet everyone here follows some crackpot religion anyway, so they're bound to be suspicious of us either way." She leaned her head against his shoulder as she spoke, nuzzling into him with a soft sigh. "I guess you're right, though. We should probably get going."

CG: "Or they're all following the same crackpot religion. Either way, it's like you said. More than a little outnumbered here..." He leaned forward to nuzzle the top of her head a bit, keeping the gesture small and simple. "Hopefully they won't think us overly suspicious for looking for some breakfast around here. Or some new clothes while we're at it. Possible requirement to hijack another buggy or not, that shirt of yours is not going to last much longer, especially not when we get back on the road."

GC: "You're still hounding me about that buggy?" She laughed quietly, finding that her fingers were tracing small circles across his chest. Shaking her head with amusement, she gazed up at him with a smile. "A new set of clothes would be nice though. I sure as hell am not going to be running from the search party across the country without a shirt on." Her smile only grew as she closed her eyes and lay her head down on his chest to listen to the beating of his bloodpusher. "Then again, using my womanly wiles to get us away from here isn't such a bad plan," she mused, a grin replacing her smile as she giggled at her own joke.

CG: With a small start, he cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, for now I think we'll just stick to the original plan. Wait around here until we know it's safe up above, get back our weapons and whatever, and be on our fucking merry way to... wherever." A thought occurring to him, he pursed his mouth, and glanced up at the ceiling, his brow furrowing. "Which reminds me, we should see if they have say, a spare map or something around. Or if they can at least give us an idea as to where the hell we even are. It'll definitely make it easier, figuring out where we can go next..."

GC: "You changed the subject," she hummed to herself, pleased at the reaction she'd gotten out of him. Then speaking up so he could hear, she said,"That's a good idea. Maybe they can tell us if there are any neighboring places like this that we could hide out in for a few days if we need to. I mean, that sliding mirror trick up on the surface was pretty useful. No one would think to check stuff like that for a passageway in the first place. We should also try to stay away from big cities for now. They won't be much use to us."

CG: He sighed, glancing down at her and shaking the slime off his fingers before starting to comb through her hair with them, gently taking care of what little knots and tangles there were. "Assuming they'd even want us in one of their other sections. You'd think it would be kinda like sending that one guest you can't stand to all to your unfortunate neighbor's hive saying 'oh, they might have some shit we actually have, but we just really don't want you here'." He shifted a bit, stretching cramped and stiff legs as he sat up a bit straighter. "Countryside appealing to you much?" He asked, keeping a light, if dry tone, though his mind had drifted to the topic of where could they really stay now. Where would they end up?

GC: "Well, how does a tree sound to you?" She purred as she felt his fingers in her hair, gently nudging her head into his hand. "By the looks of it, out in the middle of no where seems to be our only option right now." Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud knock resounded on the door. A hesitant male voice called through the wood, "Mr. Vantas! Ysirem has sent me to wake you and Ms. Pyrope up for your breakfast, but she is not in her block so we trust that she will find her way on her own. Please join us soon. Our leader would like a word with you." Terezi clapped a hand over her mouth, holding back a giggle.

CG: "A tree-" He paused, eyes flicking to the door at the knocking, his form tensing slightly in case he needed to get up and get dressed in a quick manner. He relaxed, though, when the voice resounded from behind the door. Glancing down at his companion he kept a decent amount of amusement out of his voice as he replied. "Alright. Tell her we'll be there in a bit, thanks." Settling back down in the slime, he snorted, lowering his voice to mutter. "Guess I was wrong, they still might want to talk to us after all. Perhaps to discuss your suspicious evening disappearance..."

GC: "Oh, how intriguing. It sounds like a mystery," she cooed, laughing as she began to sit up. Then, extending a hand to him, she entwined her fingers with his. "Come on. We'd better get going." As she stood up, she grinned, helping him onto his feet before stepping delicately out of the pod and stumbling towards the chair where she'd left her clothes. Taking her time as she dressed herself, she wondered aloud, "What if they've decided to kick us out?"

CG: He stood up, whatever mirth had risen in his chest dying immediately back down at her question. Frowning, he brushed off the slime that still lingered on his person and moved to throw his back on clothes, pulling his shirt over his head. "Then I guess I either pull the biggest goddamn fucking sellout apology there has been in this fucking empire or we just hope our friends up there aren't too diligent." Pulling on his pants, he turned the matter over in his pan. "I don't think they will, though... Depending on how news travels around this place, with these people, it could look pretty bad... We've only been here a short time and, as far as anyone else knows, we haven't done anything, which isn't false, save for our chat last night. Just kicking us out like that might not be the best course of action... yet, anyway."

GC: "Well, in that case, there's nothing we really have to worry about. We should wait until we get there and just relax for as long as we can and enjoy ourselves, alright?" She smiled, stepping towards him and gently taking his hand. After that, she remained quiet as she tugged his arm lethargically, leading him slowly towards the door. Once she had successfully pulled him out into the hallway, she spoke again. "Try not to get too riled up like yesterday. I'll be right there, so just give my hand a squeeze if you need to."

CG: Grunting what could have been taken as a resolved agreement, he followed her out the door. He glowered at her, but only slightly. "Don't worry, nothing like the threat of being thrown out of here, possibly into the way of another, granted, more violent religious group is enough to keep my squawkblister down. You don't have to hold my hand like a lusus escorting their charge to- wait, one minute." He paused in his small ramble, tugging his hand out of hers and walking back inside his block, returning a moment or so later with his maroon eye contacts back in place. "Only Ysirem and that guy that was with her yesterday got a clear view; dunno if everyone else knowing about it is a good idea, refugees or not. But yeah, as I was saying, I'll be fine."

GC: She frowned, crossing her arms. "Alright, it's your call. Sorry for trying to make the whole thing less stressful for the both of us," she muttered, already beginning to walk down the hall. Once she was sure that he was following her, she picked up the pace a little, wanting to eat something and get the conversation over with. When the both of them had finally reached the area where they had first entered, long lines of refugees were already assembled, waiting for their turn to get some food. There were too many trolls in the room for her to even begin to try to sniff out Ysirem, so the task was quickly forgotten as she got on line for her own meal.

CG: Something between a protest of sorts and an apology dying in his throat, he merely grimaced and hunched his shoulders, trailing after her into the the throng of bodies lined up for the early evening meal. Getting in line behind her, he took a look around, scanning the masses for the tall brownblood. He only took a break from his task when there was a less than friendly urge from behind him to “keep moving, bright eyes!” Taking a moment to remind himself he had his eyes covered – literally – he bit his tongue and moved along, making sure to pay more attention to the line and walking until he had procured a tray and some items of food from the manned, set-up counters. There was a fresh slice of fruit or so, but otherwise, the food was either dried or packaged, like the reheatable food they had found in the hive. Glancing at Terezi as they got out of line, they stood aside in the mess hall of sorts, him, once again, looking around for Ysirem. “You see her anywhere by chance?”

GC: "Everything's a blur of different colors and it's hard for me to sniff out any individuals," she said, beginning to walk to an emptier area before slumping down on the floor with her food. Her fingers carefully picking at the fruit on her tray, she found herself lost in her thoughts for a moment before being dragged back into reality by a shadow looming over her. Glancing up, she already knew who it was. "Oh, so it looks like Aazoth did find out where you disappeared to."

CG: He nodded, walking after her to the spacier spot, sitting next to her and letting a particular silence settle between them. It wasn't quite hostile, nor was it entirely comfortable, but he left her to her own thoughts while he drifted in his, eyes only flicking up from his tray at the familiar voice. "Don't worry, rest assured she wasn't anywhere she wasn't supposed to be." He commented, giving up on picking at the bits of food and straightening up to give their host his full attention. "So, you wanted to talk with us?"

GC: "Yes. I actually wanted to discuss yesterday's conversation. I suppose I came off as a bit... harsh." Terezi snorted, muttering, "a bit?" Ysirem ignored the comment and continued. "I care only for the safety of my fellow refugees and because you two are newcomers, I had to take precautions. I'm sure you understand, don't you?" Nodding slowly, Terezi simply replied, "I can sense some form of 'but' coming. Let me guess, we're still under surveillance and without our weapons for the next few days?"

CG: "If you aren't threats, I don't see how this would be a problem." She countered easily, folding her hands in front of her. "Surely you don't have anything that would be compromising among a place like this, right? And there should be no need for weapons while you are here. Should there be such a threat, you'll be taken care of well enough." Despite Ysirem's light tone, there were edges of suspicion and inquiry, and as she continued, the old firm edge from the night before returned."We learned a while ago not to take chances. I'm sure you're no strangers to paranoia and worry about being discovered." Having kept quiet for a bit, Karkat leaned back, regarding the troll in front of them carefully. "You know what I am. Exactly what kind of threat do you think we could pose to you guys? Another pair of runaway trolls against your whole group, just as keen to stay out of the empire's goddamn gander bulbs as you are..."

GC: "We'll be leaving within a few days. I'm assuming that we'll have our weapons back when we leave?" Terezi began munching on her food, relaxing a bit. So she was right; these people weren't as bad as they had first seemed. Ysirem gave her a very matter-of-fact look, saying, "Of course. We may have to steal here and there to stay alive, but never from each other." With a nod, Terezi smiled slightly. This turn of events meant she could finally take it easy for a few days before having to hit the road again. She was much more worn from the whole experience than she was willing to admit.

CG: He couldn't say he was as willing to relax as Terezi was, still not touching his food and looking up at the other troll with an expression that was far from open and welcoming. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to let things settle and take it slow for a bit, he just... couldn't shake off the impulse to question these people, to be suspicious and wary. Snorting slightly to himself, he supposed Ysirem felt something similar perhaps... Forcing himself to exhale slowly, he suppressed his cagier side and simply nodded to the taller troll, reminding himself on the side that this was more or less a first impression. It was unfair of him to act so, concerning these people... to some degree anyway. He was just better off not starting something unnecessary for his and Terezi's sake, and theirs, he guessed. "Alright then, um... thank you for coming to talk to us. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss or...?"

GC: "No, that was it. Please try to make yourselves comfortable while you're here, but keep in mind that you're under a watchful eye." With that, Ysirem stood and wandered off to speak with some other trolls across the room. Terezi didn't even turn her head to Karkat as she spoke, her voice light and amused. "See? What did I tell you? They aren't that bad. Besides, we'll be out of here in no time so we won't ever have to deal with this place again." Finally looking to him, she gave him a quick smile before continuing to pick at her food.

CG: "Hmph, guess so." Once Ysirem was gone, he turned his attention back to the tray of food, poking at microwaved protein slush before finally eating, chewing thoughtfully as he turned things over in his sponge. "You think there's a chance of us running into this kind of place again, though? You said there were rebellions all over..." He frowned, setting down his fork and sitting back, a particular line of thought among other things keeping his appetite to a minimum. "Whatever, never mind that actually. While we're here we need to take care of a few things before we're on our way. When you're done, you up for some asking around? You know, our location, a map, some provisions, if possible, or at least some new threads - all that shit. Suppose we should have brought this stuff up, actually, when she was still around... whoops."

GC: "Wait, hold up. What do we need to 'take care of' here? We arrived yesterday and the only thing we actually _can_ do is ask around." She frowned at him, furrowing her brow. "I mean, I can always go find her again and ask for the stuff we need, but is there something else?" She set her tray on the ground, her food no longer very appetizing. Though she hadn't had a full meal in a few days, she just wasn't hungry at the moment.

CG: He paused, considering something before shaking his head and letting it go. They were under surveillance. If he was going to broach that topic, he would do so later in the privacy of one of their blocks. For now, it could wait a bit longer. "No, I was just saying. Unless _you_ think there's something else?" He glanced at her, an eyebrow arched slightly as he leaned back, all but forgetting his food at this point.

GC: "No?" She hesitated a moment before deciding that he might have just been holding off what he was about to say because they were out in the open, so to speak. She quickly continued, "I'm not really hungry anymore. How about we start heading back to our blocks?" Beginning to stand up, she carried her food tray back to a nearby dispenser before turning back to him.

CG: "You really should have eaten the rest. I don't know how the hell you're still standing honestly, given what you've had to eat lately..." He grimaced before getting to his feet and tossing what remained of his food. "Alright... We can catch Ysirem or whoever later when breakfast is over or something." Shoving his hands into his pockets he started wandering back to their blocks, falling silent as he went back to earlier thoughts, now that they were going back to a more secluded area instead, allowing him a chance to speak in safety and her, no doubt, to question him.

GC: "Surprisingly, I'm not hungry... I'm pretty sure if I feast on something huge, I'll make my acidic protein sac hurt," she shrugged, trailing after him slowly. After they had reached the area where their blocks were located, she broke the silence. "I'm assuming there _was_ something else you wanted to discuss?" She leaned against the wall crossing, her arms expectantly.

CG: "Was I being too obvious? Or did you smell the deceit?" He snorted quietly, shutting the door to his block behind them and moving over to stand by the recuperacoon, folding his own arms. "Exactly what did you find with that kid's case again? I know you said it was orchestrated by someone else, but still, what was it like?" He asked after letting another moment of silence pass for him to settle his thoughts. "You mentioned a rebellion in a city but that was it..."

GC: "The case I was appointed to was a fake, but there were actually a few others like it... Real ones. Groups of trolls would go on riots, standing in front of official buildings and protesting in the streets. The results were deaths of hundreds that were hushed by the government. The subjuggulators didn't want word of their massacre of peaceful protesters getting out, so they tried those who organized the groups." She sighed, moving over to him. "That's as much of the story as I was able to piece together really. When I tried the leaders, I was told that they had hurt people in their protests, but upon further research, I found out that was completely untrue."

CG: "Don’t suppose these guys were friends of theirs or something? Associates? Depending on how long this has been going on… I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them, this group or otherwise, are more than a little pissed." He hesitated, sighing and dropping his arms back down at his sides, taking to leaning against the recuperacoon's side. "I know we're better off just fucking keeping to ourselves and moving out when it's time, but on the other prong, what if they're planning something... significant? They mentioned a 'mission' and that they were looking for something, mother grub fucking knows what. Before you say anything, I'm not saying they're up to anything _bad_ so to speak. It's probably just some off the swaychair religious deal, but say they're up to _something_ that'll be big enough to cause some hell to break loose? Maybe it'll be like the cases you heard of and all, maybe it will be something like what we saw above ground, I don't know. Just... Are you comfortable, keeping in mind whatever the fuck could happen with this, with just leaving and isolating ourselves in a treehive somewhere?" He finished, crossing his arms again and glancing over at her inquiringly. It didn't escape him that there wasn't much they could do, really, at the moment if there _was_ some big deal thing afoot, but for the time being he was just asking for the sake of asking, curious about her thoughts on all this.

GC: Pursing her lips, she thought for a few moments, taking her time as she formulated her thoughts. "I honestly can't say for sure... Say this is like the other cases and we do stick around, but this organization just gets caught like the rest? What then? It's a dead end for us. Yet if we stay, we know exactly how the government works. Maybe it could be helpful to us?" She chewed her lip, brows furrowed as she sighed and made her way over to him. "For now, perhaps our best plan of action is to gather as much information as we can and just take it from there." It was hard to make a definite plan. She knew Karkat was right about something going on, but neither of them were sure what and making the wrong move could get them killed.

CG: "That could mean sticking around this place longer than we scheduled, you know," he said, turning towards her. "Especially with the under surveillance thing and the whole their 'mission' being kept out of the way of our goddamn gander bulbs until further notice. If we're finding out what's going on here exactly, we'll have to wait and regain their trust. Might take more than a couple of days the way we're going, chipper breakfast discussion aside." He drummed his fingers on his arm, pursing his mouth as he thought. "Once we're done though, we can be certain, or at least a little more sure than we are now, whether staying would be worth it or not."

GC: "Then it really could be worth it, don't you think?" She combed a hand through her hair with a sigh and then shrugged. "Why don't we try it for a little? Maybe it'll make our lives just a bit easier for a while." Looking over to him to sniff his reaction, she formed her mouth into what she thought was some sort of cross between a question mark and a straight line.

CG: "Could be." He scratched at the back of his neck a little, glancing off to the side. "Yeah... Yeah, alright. And your anxiety? How have you been doing with that since we've been down here-" He paused as he looked back at her, quirking an eyebrow at her expression. "Are- are you trying to make that emote?" He asked, a touch of nostalgia tinging his voice with a mild amusement underneath the questioning tone.

GC: She drew her face into a pout, holding back a small laugh. "Oh, shut up." Smiling now, she continued after giving his arm a light punch, answering his previous question. "And I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. I sort of got used to being down here, I guess. It's not as bad as I originally thought it might be, you know? I'm actually feeling a lot better in general too."

CG: Biting back a smile of his own, he nodded to her. "That's good, especially now that a longer stay is seeming more and more likely..." Turning to look back at the door, he tilted his head, musing aloud. "Wonder where that greenblood and yellowblood that walked us in here are. They could be a good start, as far as asking about our basics goes, anyway," he said, hesitant, despite all his talk to inquire about anything more than what they were going to ask in the first place, location, clothes, and all that.

GC: "There are so many trolls here, I don't know if we'll even be able to find them right away. We've really got our work cut out for us," she responded. Giving his arm a light nudge, she continued, "On the other hand, instead of getting right to work, we could just explore for a little. How does that sound?" Already making her way to the door, she stopped, waiting to see if he would come with her.

CG: He considered her suggestion for a moment, rolling it around his pan before shrugging and padding after her. "Alright, who knows, we may run into them or Ysirem while we're around. Wouldn't hurt to get a better idea of the make up of this place too," he commented, making his way to the door to stand out in the hallway. "All we've really seen is the one tunnel down to that huge-ass central cavern, then you have this section branching off of it and the section opposite."

GC: She grinned, carefully shutting the door behind her as she exited the block and walked briskly down the hall. "Maybe we can even find someone to show us around. After all, no one wants to be wandering blindly." She paused, her grin becoming a smirk as she turned to him. "Except me, of course." Letting out a cackle, she started feeling more and more like her old self, as if those tedious days in the dungeon had never happened.

CG: "Oh harty fucking har har, you're a real laughsassin," he snorted, his tone desert dry but all the same amused, him more than welcome to the little moments that alluded to her recovery from her time behind bars. "I don't know, you might just get what you want. Dunno if anyone wants to show the new guys around; it was never that way from where I was standing. The new guys who picked a bone with their head hauncho and were put on the very unflattering spotlight, no fucking less." He remarked, lowering his voice slightly.

GC: "You're such a party pooper, you know that?" She giggled, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm sure we'll be just fine, even if we do end up asking someone. We're not high standing officials anymore. We don't have to keep up anymore acts or standards. Not really, anyway." Stopping to give him a soft, reassuring nudge, she softened her voice. "We can afford to relax a little now."

CG: "I've been made well aware on multiple accounts, I believe. At this point, I just figured you had accepted it as an occupational setback." He responded as they strolled down the hall, soon passing the main chamber. Halting for a second before quickly resuming at a slower pace, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, seeming to quiet down a little. "Might take some getting used to," he said simply, rounding a corner and casting a look around as he did so. "Won't stop me from asking for directions though. We're fucking strangers in a strange place and I sure as hell don't know where we're even heading..."

GC: "In that case, ask away," she giggled, hooking her arm through his. "Come on, I think I can smell someone we know down that way." She tugged him down a hallway and almost stumbled into the greenblood from the day before, accompanied by an unfamiliar maroonblood. Apologizing quickly, she nudged Karkat, prompting him to ask for directions with a grin.

CG: Shooting her a look, he turned back to the other two trolls and nodded to them, offering a tight, rather small attempt at an apologetic smile that didn't last too long. "Uh, hey. Sorry about that, we were wandering around and, as you can imagine, we're pretty lost here. Well, not very lost but we're not really sure where we're headed, where's what, you know. If you could give us a better, um, a better grasp of this place that'd be pretty... helpful." He managed, inwardly wincing at how the sort of rushed words felt awkward and clumsy coming from him. So much for being a former high standing official. "If you're busy at the moment you don't have to do the whole tour guide deal, just the general gist of this place would be fine."

GC: The maroon blood shot the both of them a displeased look before nudging the greenblood. "If you keep going past the main hall, you'll eventually reach the recreation hall and emergency bunkers. Besides that there really isn't much else to see," said the greenblood with a strained smile. Terezi nodded to him, muttering a "thanks, I think we'll manage," before tugging Karkat in the other direction. Pulling him around the corner of the hallway, she stopped and pressed against the wall, listening in on the two trolls' conversation.

CG: "Thought those two were supposed to be under surveillance. I know Ysirem talked to them today but still, they seem a bit on the loose, more than I'd like," muttered what sounded like the maroonblood. Holding back, Karkat kept his silence and hesitantly followed Terezi's lead, leaning up against the wall behind her and straining his ears for the hushed tones of the others. In retrospect he should have figured they'd end up doing something like this, to speed up the process if anything. It didn't raise suspicion, involving a useful lack of interrogation of their apparently on-edge fellow refugees, eavesdropping just taking a bit of risk - nothing new to them he would have to admit.

GC: "Goksor, calm yerself. If we act too suspicious of them, they will begin to be suspicious of us. It's simple logic. Now instead of running headfirst into things as ya usually do, please try to think before doing anything rash. Ya remember what happened last time." The greenblood's voice sounded calm, yet rather annoyed as he spoke. "They have to gain our trust as much as much we have to gain theirs before setting any plans in motion." Terezi heard the maroonblood sigh at this last comment, muttering something under his breath. Glancing nervously at Karkat after deeming the two trolls' conversation at an end, she tugged the both of them back towards the hallway where their blocks were. Speaking in an urgent whisper, she demanded, "Okay, what the hell was that?"

CG: "You tell me, legislacerator. I'm open to any ideas." He muttered, glancing around uneasily before opening his block door again, pulling her along inside, certain that they both were all the more uncomfortable outside now. Assured in the privacy of their own block, he started pacing around the middle of the room, fingers drumming frantically on the side of his leg. "'Last time'... Maybe someone, that Goskor guy or whatever - from what I could tell, he fucked up and scared someone off. Tipped them off somehow. May have resulted in whatever happened above ground? Fuck if I know... They want to rope us into something, whatever the hell their 'plans' or 'mission' are? Hmm..." He trailed off, eventually coming to stand by the desk, choosing to lean against it instead. "That made more questions than it answered... If it actually answered anything."

GC: "All we can do is keep asking around until we get some more info about this. Maybe someone else will slip up and we'll get a better understanding of what's going on. Until then, we should probably lay as low as possible since everyone's eyes seem to be on us. We can't do anything that would call attention to ourselves." She rubbed her temples nervously one hand, leaning against the wall of his block. After a minute, she'd come up with some sort of half decent idea. "What if we don't leave our blocks too often so they don't think we're uncontrollable? Then we can come out mainly at meal times when everyone is congregated together and the most likely to spill something."

CG: "Such as asking around...?" he remarked. "If anyone else is as jumpy as Goksor, I don't think a whole lot of questions will be received all that well. Hell, they looked about ready to spit when we asked for fucking _directions_." He sighed, looking down at the floor, tapping his fingers on the desk as he thought. Flicking his eyes back up at her, he quirked an eyebrow at the suggestion. "I don't know, we're treading on thin ice, it feels like. Ask around too much and press, they accuse us of suspicious activity. Keeping to ourselves could result in the same kind of reaction." He paused, rolling a thought around in his sponge before continuing. "Though they wouldn't expect anything else from two people who are going to be on their way anyway, would they? As far as they know we're still departing in a few days, no need to snoop, no threat. We're harmless if we just look like we're only interested in our moving on from here." He leaned back more so against the desk, folding his hands in front of himself. "...From the way they were talking, do you think they even planned on letting us leave in the first place?" He asked quietly, after a moment.

GC: She tensed up, her hands clenching into fists. "It's not a question of them letting us leave or not. Oh no, it sounds like we might have just leave on our own without letting anyone know. Otherwise we might never get out of here." Her voice was quiet but had a sense of desperation to it. There was no way she was getting herself caged in again. If they ended up staying longer than necessary, it would feel the exact same way as being in the dungeon, but perhaps with better conditions. Walking over to Karkat, she breathed out all her frustration with a sigh, looking tired more than anything. "I want to go home... I don't care if home becomes some small cave miles away. I just want to get away from this." Her shoulders slumped and she stared down at the ground, shuffling her feet.

CG: Pushing himself off of the desk, he took a careful step toward her, tilting her head back up slightly and setting his hands on her shoulders. Taking a moment to settle himself, he gave her shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. "We can leave once the sun sets this coming night. We'll take tonight to get what we need without letting them on to our early departure and we'll leave before anyone's up. If we still have company above ground they should be asleep, if not... I guess we're just going to have to be pretty fucking goddamn sneaky." He frowned, knowing her aversion to being trapped down here was rising again, now the possibility was considerably more plausible than before. "Think it's better we do, in the end. Whatever this is... I have a feeling is something more than out of our hands. Whatever happens, happens. We'll just leave them to it."

GC: She nodded, taking a deep breath smiling weakly. "I guess I have to trust you on this, huh?" With a giggle, she pulled him into a quick hug before her lips fell back into a frown. "How are we going to get our weapons back? They probably have them under lock and key or have someone guarding them." Pulling away, she let her arms drop to her sides as she leaned back against the desk.

CG: "What, one escape from the Alternian government wasn't enough for you?" He snorted a little, holding her close before letting her go again. "Hmm, we'll keep an ear out at lunch and dinner. I doubt we'll catch anything, but who knows? Maybe someone will slip up like you said. Little mention of a weapons vault or something and that's us. I have more than enough experience at knocking out a guard, the lock and key bit... we'll have to figure out when we get there." He pursed his lips slightly and glanced over at her again. "If it comes down to it though we may just have to go without and make do until we can... properly take care of that situation among other things."

GC: "Alright. Until then though, what are we going to do. Just sit in here and twiddle our thumbs?" She scrunched up her nose, trying to think of something entertaining that could actually be accomplished within the block. Coming up with nothing, she finally said, "Besides taking a nap or maybe finding something to draw with, there really isn't much to do here."

CG: "Honestly, I think you could do with a good, solid week of sleep, but I'm guessing you're not really up for sleeping at the moment..." He remarked, looking around the block and sighing. "You think it would be better to ask for some fresh clothes and all that at lunch? Or should we, or I, if you want, go out and get that over with already? It's not really suspicion-worthy, considering these our only sets of clothes. I mean, as opposed to sitting around here and figuring what to do with those scraps of paper..." He said, spreading said spare sheets across the desk slightly as he spoke.

GC: "Tell you what. If we don't have any success with procuring some fresh clothing, I'll use my amazing skills to make you a beautiful set of origami clothes: the only set of clothes that fit perfectly and still manage to give you a paper cut on every inch of your body." She laughed before nodding towards the door with a grin. "Come on, we might as well get going."

CG: "A damn shame I'll have to say. Then you wouldn't be able to see _my_ skill with a pencil. I'm sure I would have been able to create something that would have confused and repulsed your sniffnode. You know, because it would be so amazingly terrible." He shook his head, heading towards the door and walking out to wait for her in the hallway. "Oh well, I'll let you have the honor of wearing your origami clothing instead. You're in more need of it than I am, my shirt's still intact."

GC: "Maybe we can compromise and combine your incredible drawing skills and my origami magic to make the ultimate set of clothes!" Grinning from ear to ear, she followed him out into the hall with a slight bounce to her step. "Or better yet, we can make two identical sets of clothes and be the perfect pair." She laughed as she walked now, nudging him every once in a while. As the reached the end of the hall, she toned down the laughter, but kept the bright smile on her face, surveying the area for any nearby trolls.

CG: "Oh yeah, we can both pass out from blood loss from those fucking paper cuts, it'll be perfect." He added, rolling his eyes and only making half-hearted attempts to retaliate against her small jabs and nudges. "You know, we should get a hold of Kanaya some time and tell her about this- Shit!" Having turned his head to comment to her, Karkat hadn't noticed the yellowblood rounding the corner, resulting in a bit of a t-crash, him walking right into her and jostling some containers from her grasp. Goddamn it.

GC: Instinctively leaning forward, she caught and steadied the containers, a slight look of surprise on her face. "Are you alright? We're really sorry, we didn't really see where we were going." Stepping back once she was sure nothing would fall again, she relaxed, curiously inspecting the boxes. "Do you need help carrying anything? It looks like a lot to take all in one trip.”

CG: "Oh no, no that's- it's fine, thanks. Um, thank you." The troll squeaked before clearing her throat and taking a small step back, one arm securely back over the front of the boxes. "I'm good, I'll manage! Hehe, don't worry. Um, is there anything I can help you guys with or... ? You're new here aren't ya?" She chirped, from behind her load of boxes, determinedly supporting them, nonetheless, and all the more determinedly keeping them sort of off to the side, away from them, though suppose she was just doing so to balance them?... Maybe? Arching an eyebrow, Karkat gave her a skeptical look. "If you say so... It's really no problem if you need a hand. Sorry, I was just... being stupid and not paying attention to where I was going. At all. We were figuring where to go to get some new clothes around here, if we could."

GC: "New clothes? O-oh right, yeah. You must be sick of wearing those old things. Um, if you come with me- no wait. Actually, stay here. I'll only be a second." The yellowblood began hurrying away without another word and Terezi shot Karkat a look before nodding in the troll's general direction. Starting slowly and quietly, she began following the nervous yellowblood, wondering what in those boxes was so important that they weren't allowed to see it.

CG: Starting after her, he put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her before she got much further along. "I thought we were avoiding acting suspicious," he leaned over a little and muttered, keeping an eye on the disappearing troll's form. "Eavesdropping is one thing. She said she'll be back in a second though. If they catch us going after her, I doubt they'll be too fucking pleased. I thought you wanted to leave this place." Of course he was just as curious as her, but he had made getting out of here the priority and this was a little riskier than listening in on a conversation. This was trailing somebody and making sure they returned to the same spot in time without being seen.

GC: She groaned stubbornly, but followed his advice, her want to leave greater than her curiosity. Keeping her voice down she muttered, "Fine, but just remember where she went. I'm willing to bet anything that's where our stuff is." Just then, the yellowblood was already making her way back down the hall, carrying almost the same amount of boxes, maybe less. When she finally reached them, she placed them on the floor, huffing from the long walk. "I found some used clothing that hasn't really been touched in a while. Maybe you could find something you want? If you'd like, you can keep those in your blocks until you've decided on something." The yellowblood smiled pleasantly at them, her fingers twirling around each other in need of something to fidget with.

CG: He simply nodded, straightening back up as the yellowblood made her way back to them, not wanting her or anyone else that happened to be nearby to overhear them. "Yeah, that's fine, great actually thank you." He nodded to her, picking up some of the boxes himself, adjusting and balancing them in his arms before he had a solid hold on them. "I hope you don't carry loads like these on your own all the time," he remarked, a small laugh punctuating the statement and masking his earlier unease. "I mean, I'm carrying half of what you were lugging around and just managing, barely. You'd think they would have someone help you move things around, you know. Pretty sure it would be a hell of a lot easier, on your dorsal column especially."

GC: "Oh no, it's fine. I manage just fine. See, Ysirem asks me to keep all the supplies in order down here because I'm the most organized and anyone who tries to help usually ends up messing up the order I have set up..." Terezi cut off the yellowblood's ramble with surprise. "Wait, you mean you have to lug boxes like these to and from places all on your own?" The yellowblood nodded quickly with a shrug. Then her eyes widening, she spoke hurriedly. "That reminds me! I forgot something. Wait here." And just like that the troll disappeared down the hallway, returning only a moment later with another box. "Uh, make sure you look through the items in that box. You've spoken quite kindly to me I think those articles will suit you nicely."

CG: Sparing a brief, sideways glance at Terezi, Karkat quickly returned his gaze frontwards as the yellowblood returned once more, nodding his thanks to her again. "I don't think we've done anything particularly saintly by any means but... thanks anyways. Uh, what was your name again? We never did catch it." The yellowblood paused and tilted her head for a moment before replying with a slightly matter-of-fact tone, "Well that's because I never gave it. But as you've asked, it's Elsevi, at your service." Offering a small smile, she nodded to them. "I hope you'll find something you'll like in those boxes, fair warning though, they've been collecting a bit of dust now. Right then, I should be off, packages to carry, places to drop them off, pick them up and all. See you two around!" And with that, Elsevi was turning on her heel to be on her way again, hurried steps echoing off the cave walls.

GC: "That was nice of her... She's a little, uh, quirky, don't you think?" Terezi turned to the troll next to her and then shrugged, picking up the last box that Elsevi had left them as well as a few others. "Come on, we might as well get back to our blocks and start trying some of this stuff on." She nodded in the general direction they had to go before taking a few shaky steps.

CG: "Quirky, sure, at least she wasn't looking ready to fucking hiss and spit at us for the duration of our talk." He pointed out before heading back down the way they came with his own armful of boxes, only realizing the slight dilemma as he approached his block door. "Another thing she could probably use another hand to help with: opening the goddamn door." Shaking his head, he set his boxes down carefully before propping open the door and shuffling them inside.

GC: She followed him before unceremoniously scattering her boxes across the floor, the last one falling with an almost metallic clang. Confused, she opened it, pulling out a long teal dress. "This smells... beautiful. Where did she even get this?" She glanced over at Karkat before noticing a glint coming from the bottom of the box. "Wait, is that...?" Both her stabcane and Karkat's sickle lay neatly packaged within the box, a piece of paper on top of them. She quickly picked it up, examining it.

CG: He quirked an eyebrow, shutting the door behind them and walking over to peer over her shoulder at the contents of the box and then the piece of paper in her hands. It was a little wrinkled, but not very old-looking at all, the lines of ink seeming almost fresh and... messily made, as if they were scrawled in a hurry. They crossed the parchment and arched over it, creating what would appear to be a rough map of the place, except there was much more to it than they were told, a plethora of tunnels branching off of the main sections and seemingly leading to the surface. Some of the larger sections were ones they hadn't heard of before, another set of caverns lying beyond the emergency bunkers as opposed to what the greenblood told them. "That's... oddly convenient." He looked at her, frowning slightly despite fate seeming to favor them at the moment. "We have an anonymous friend on the inside then?"

GC: "It appears so. We should check this out later. For now let's just see if we can find something to wear." Handing him the note, she got down on her knees and began rummaging through the boxes, looking for something appealing to wear. It took her a while, but she dumped one of the boxes' contents on the floor and refilled it with clothes that she wanted to try on, pushing the rest of the boxes in his direction. "Have a look for yourself. Don't pick anything too colorful though, because I know that's exactly what you'll do." She smirked at him, standing up with the box she'd put together in her hands and made her way towards the door. "I'll be in my room trying some of this on if you need me."

CG: "But who would even want to help us? It's kind of on the fucking treasonous side don't you think for a group of supposedly close-knit refugees?" He asked as he looked over the wrinkled paper carefully before moving to set it on his desk for later inspection. Rejoining her at the growing mess of clothes, he knelt down to pick through a discarded pile that was out of her way, only glancing up as she finally moved to take her leave. "Funny hearing that from you, Miss Shit-Lets-Wear-A-Teal-And-Bright-Red-Uniform." Shaking his head, he waved her off as a goodbye, starting to actually sort through the disarrayed clothes on the floor, tossing some articles without so much as a glance into what was undoubtedly an unwanted pile. "Don't worry, I'll try and keep it low key." He said, snorting to himself a little as he discarded a yellow green jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [5/26/14 4:00:23 PM] Sarah: i feel the urge to apologize formerly again  
> [5/26/14 4:00:30 PM] Tat: dont  
> [5/26/14 4:00:32 PM] Tat: its beautiful  
> [5/26/14 4:00:32 PM] Sarah: to anyone who read this especially the porn  
> [5/26/14 4:00:40 PM] Tat: shhh the porn isnt in it yet  
> [5/26/14 4:00:44 PM] Sarah: its gonna be  
> [5/26/14 4:00:50 PM] Tat: sHHH


	8. Society - Act II, scene iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [6/2/14 8:53:34 PM] Sarah: we hinted at a lot bc we dont know what was happening  
> [6/2/14 8:53:40 PM] Tat: yeah thats true  
> [6/2/14 8:53:44 PM] Tat: we should plot this shit better
> 
> That's basically it.  
> In other words, nothing happens except a small feelings jam sorta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References for their clothes:  
> [Terezi](http://static.tumblr.com/qqiwspw/h0Zmb1bf2/terezi.pyrope.600.1133230.jpg) (Sorry I can't find the original source for this)  
> [Karkat](http://nutfound.tumblr.com/post/5794196553/suddenly-karcestor-idk-this-is-just-a-venting)
> 
> Yeah hopefully our artist will start working on this soon.

GC: Slipping into her own block, she tried on numerous articles of clothing until she found a combination that smelled more than satisfactory. Wearing a white blouse, she layered a black and blue vest on top, popping up the collar. Then, pulling on beige pants with bright red swirls sewn onto them, she skipped over to the mirror in her ablutionblock, giving it a lick to examine herself. Happy with the outcome, she fished out a pair of fingerless gloves from the remaining clothing in the middle of her floor and tugged them on before making her way back towards Karkat's block. Giving the door a knock, she barely waited for an answer and peeked her head inside. "You ready yet?"

CG: The search for something that was comfortable and practical proved more difficult than he thought it would be, there being quite a bit of threading through clothes that were either too big, too small, too bright and too spider-infested for his liking. Eventually though he did end up finding something suitable enough. The end result was him decked in a pair of grey jeans that were just a little less worn than his older pair and a long-sleeved, black shirt. Save for the lack of his sign and the stiff, leather jacket vest layering over his shirt, it was ironically similar to the attire he had worn as a kid. Tugging out the collar of the jacket, he looked over to the door and nodded. "A little more warning would be nice next time but yeah, I'm ready. You?"

GC: She slipped into the room, one hand on her hip as she looked him over. "Not bad. I assumed you'd go for something bright and flashy, but way to prove me wrong." With a sly grin, she adjusted her glasses and stepped closer. "So, are we off to go exploring? Or should we put that on the list for morning activities? You didn't manage to misplace the map while rummaging through all these boxes, did you?

CG: His mouth having fallen open somewhat, he quickly snapped his jaw shut, hopefully before she could sniff anything and turned around to head back to his desk. "What? I don't think you give me enough credit as the former head of the most lethal sect of our government, you know. If we're going to be sneaking around, better settle with something that doesn't, oh, I don't know... draw too much attention." He shot back a meaningful look at her over his shoulder before swiping up the map from his desk, holding it up as he walked back to her. "And no, I set it safely right over there. It's about lunch time now, you think we will be missed much if we do choose to explore?"

GC: Raising her eyebrows at both his expression and his comment, her grin widened but she didn't say anything about it. "Well we are being watched, aren't we? I'm pretty sure they'd notice if we were gone. I wouldn't leave that map here if I were you, though. Who knows. Maybe they might search our blocks. That also means we should hide our weapons." She gingerly plucked the map from his grasp and stuffed it in her pocket before glancing at the box containing their only items of protection.

CG: "Maybe we're better off just asking around the basics and keeping our ears open at lunch then? We can explore when everyone's asleep and no one's keeping an eye out for us," he said, crossing his arms before following her gaze and looking at their weapons, figuring what to do with them. "Think we should clean this up, bury those at the fucking bottom again and stack that box under all the others?" He suggested, unable to think of anything else. "It's not like there's an awful lot of places to hide things in here."

GC: "Seems like the only idea we can actually use right now, so let's get to it." She kneeled on the ground, picking up the clothes that he had oh so gracefully thrown about, dropping them into the box that held their weapons. Then, placing the lid back on the box, she began gathering the other boxes and piling them on top. "We might also see our new friend at lunch. Maybe we can get some more information from her."

CG: He nodded and helped her stack up the rest of the containers. "You think she's _a_ friend or _the_ friend who for some reason seems to favor us?" He inquired, sliding the last box in place before turning back to her. "She mentioned us being 'quite kind' to her, even though we were just kinda being... decent? Implying she may be used to something else. Still, seems a bit quick to commit basic treason for two outsiders. Not to mention, outsiders you just fucking met."

GC: "Well, there's nothing we can do but be careful, is there?" She sighed, slowly getting to her feet and dusting off her new pants. "Come on, we might as well go see if we can find her. Just watch what you say around her, and we'll probably be fine." Walking to the door, she held it open for him as she waited patiently, rolling her shoulders.

CG: "Will do." He padded after her, heading back out into the hallway, the sounds of the crowd clamoring already resounding throughout the caverns as lunch started. "You think those will last long once we're out of here?" He asked, a bit of skepticism in his tone as he gave her a once-over, jamming his hands in his pockets as they started to walk.

GC: Giving him an overdone taken-aback look, she said, "Are you implying that my incredibly original outfit that I spent so much time putting together is going to fall apart because it's not sturdy enough for the wild?" She suppressed a laugh, keeping her face as serious as she could save for her eyes twinkling mischievously behind her glasses.

CG: "Saying? No. Implying? Probably. Who knows, we may have to take some of that paper with us so you have your origami outfit to fall back on." He responded, briskly walking down the long hall to where the lines were starting to grow, chatter starting to become the white noise of the area, echoing off cavern walls and such. "The gloves and pants might last, not sure about the fucking blouse."

GC: "Yeah, because of course _you'd_ be thinking about that." She nudged him playfully, her lips now forming a grin. "The way we're headed, you might be the one wearing the origami outfit." Striding into the main room, she scanned the crowd for the yellowblood before stepping into the line for food, shooting Karkat a somewhat silly yet sly look over her shoulder.

CG: "Don't tell me that's a threat." He spared her a wry glance before directing his eyes toward the other trolls crowding the area, looking for their friend from earlier. The search quickly becoming fruitless, he returned his attention back to his companion, suppressing a smile at the look she was giving him. "What the hell are you even doing? The line's moving that way, you know. Better keep your sniffnode frontwards."

GC: "You're enjoying this, aren't you." It wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm as she shuffled forward in the line. "If I were you, I'd do the same with your ganderbulbs. It's quite obvious that you're searching the crowd for someone and that's not what we want people to think, now is it?" Giggling, she poked him quickly before facing the front of the line again.

CG: "I thought you wanted me to relax." He said, keeping his voice low but not low enough she couldn't hear as he moved up the line with her. "What? And you sniffing here and there isn't conspicuous? Actually, scratch that. Whatever they're heating up in the nutrientblocks does smell more than a little questionable..." He wrinkled his noise, a mild exaggeration for the sake of their banter, him shaking his head slightly.

GC: Shooting him what could only be described as "a look," she stuck out her tongue teasingly. "Be grateful you can eat anything at all, dumbass. Actually be grateful that you have that new outfit that just so happens to make you look twice as cute as you normally do. Hell, this might even be your big chance to get a matesprit, Karkat. In a place like this, not everyone can run away from your general vicinity." She winked, laughing under her breath.

CG: Admittedly more than slightly thrown off by that, he quieted, but only for a moment before clearing his throat. "Yeah well, don't suppose you expect me to swoon someone in less than fucking 48 hours and convince them to come along with us? 'Hello, yes I'm flushed for you and I was wondering if you would like to join me and my best friend for a life on the run. Oh, did I mention we're on the run from the government? Yeah, there's that. Hope that's not too much of a fucking problem.'" Stepping forward in line as it moved, he rolled his eyes a bit as he continued, using just as much sarcasm as she did earlier and more or less recovering from the small jolt. "You know, you're right. That doesn't sound like too bad of a pick-up line at all. Just a little fucking rough on the edges." He muttered back to her.

GC: She couldn't help but laugh, practically grinning from ear to ear. "You take things way too seriously, even if they are coated in a deliciously thick layer of sarcasm. Then again, that's what makes messing with you so much fun." Nudging him again, she continued, "Plus, it's pretty adorable when you get so flustered." She giggled quietly, stepping forward in line and looking quite satisfied with herself.

CG: He only narrowed his eyes at the back of her head before snorting quietly to himself and glancing away, grumbling something or other. Before either of them could make another remark, a familiar face, or rather, a pair of familiar faces caught his attention. Nudging the back of her shoulder a little, Karkat directed Terezi's attention to the two trolls chatting off to the side of the line by the wall of the cavern. "Hey, think we've found a friend, or so," he murmured. True to his word, the considerably shorter yellowblood seemed to be chatting up a storm with Ysirem. Elsevi, laden with packages as ever, appeared to be confused, a fact that only seemed to make the look on Ysirem's face sour. Shaking her head, the shorter troll seemed to mellow, pretty much wilting before stepping back and taking off to no doubt her next drop-off/pick-up point.

GC: Turning her head ever so slightly to get a whiff of the situation, she took a moment to respond. "What was that all about?" Before Terezi had time to make any other remarks, Ysirem had noticed the both of them in line and gave them a quick nod with a strained smile. Keeping her face neutral, Terezi smiled as if she hadn't observed anything prior and prodded Karkat to do the same. Then, turning around to Karkat and still smiling, she whispered, "If she comes over here, should we ask her about provisions for when we leave?"

CG: Returning her nod and keeping up the small smile he had managed, Karkat returned his attention to Terezi, muttering back through the plastic look. "Might as well take care of it now. I have a feeling she's going to pop over here, check in on us. As long as we just don't mention anything about leaving early, we should be good." Shutting up, Karkat jerked his head to the side a little, indicating the brownblood's approaching, verified by a weary voice ringing out and over the clamoring of the crowd. "Ah, good! Looks like you've met Elsevi and procured some new clothing. Good, good, I was thinking about sending some packages to your blocks for you to sort through, but it looks like you've managed just fine on your own. Hope everything else is going just as well around here for you," Ysirem said, a note in her voice alluding to her actual question of whether anything has gone particularly... amiss with their stay.

GC: Her voice sounding sweeter than cotton candy drowned in a vat of sugar, she replied, "Oh yes, everything has be going wonderfully for us. We were just wondering if you had anything like a map or directions that you could give us for when we leave. As nice as it is here, we can't stay forever. We have a destination we need to reach." Ysirem nodded, her voice reaching a very matter-of-fact tone, she said, "Of course. I'll have it all ready for you on the night you leave. Just come to me again, when you're rea-" "Actually, we wanted to know if we could have it now so we could plan our course," Terezi interjected, a sickly sweet smile still on her face.

CG: Closing her mouth and pausing at the interruption, Ysirem folded her hands behind her back, continuing on in a just slightly firmer voice. "Of course... I'll have someone drop it off at your blocks around dinner. May I ask where you are headed? We can help direct you towards it if you let us know, though we understand if you don't want to say. Also, you do understand you won't be able to retrieve your weapons and such until you leave? Just part of the precaution, though you seem harmless enough." Hesitating, she looked down at them, her voice going back to a softer tone. "It's a shame you're leaving so soon. Are you sure you want to? You'd be safe down here, first impressions aside." She added with a small, short laugh.

GC: Returning the laugh, she replied, "We really must get going as soon as we can. We're only staying here to recuperate for a few days and wait out the highbloods on the surface. Are there any big towns or cities nearby? I'm sure you understand why we need to avoid them. As for the weapons, we won't need them until we leave. You have a great handle on the situation down here and I trust that everyone will continue to be safe under your watch."

CG: Ysirem smiled pleasantly and nodded to her in thanks before continuing. "Of course, the Supreme courtblocks are southwest of us, and the city surrounding it. Everything north or west of us is either a town or forest area. The only other big city that I'm aware of is the coastal one to the east, if that helps any." Her expressing sobering into something more serious again, she lowered her voice slightly. "I wish you two luck in your travels especially with your... predicament. Do be careful." She said, glancing at Karkat as she spoke before looking back to Terezi. "I'm amazed you've gotten this far for so long." Karkat shifted a little at this, only offering a very slight nod to the taller troll and a more or less muttered, "Thanks."

GC: As Ysirem took her leave, Terezi's smile faded, but she waited until the brownblood was out of earshot before she turned to Karkat. "You alright?" she asked instantly, her eyes showing the slightest hint of concern. Then, remembering that they were still on a line, she glanced behind her and backed up, still facing Karkat. "She gave us some good directions, but I wish she would stop talking about you the way she does."

CG: Flicking his gaze back to her, he shook his head a bit, shrugging. "It's fine. It doesn't matter really considering our great escape, but she's right, in a way. It does complicate things sometimes, to say the least. I mean, either way, we're being persecuted but... yeah." His mouth dipped into a mild grimace before he shrugged again and motioned her to turn back around. "Cartilage nub forwards, Pyrope. No need for you fucking moonwalk into someone."

GC: She frowned at him, but did as he said, turning forward. "I can smell that it bothers you. I hope you realize that." Her voice was quiet, as if she were speaking to herself, but she made sure he could hear. Then, came her turn in the line and she waited as she was served several packages of dried food. Standing patiently to the side of the line, she remained silent while Karkat stepped up to get his own helpings.

CG: He dropped his gaze and didn't comment after that, only proceeding to move along, get his rations, and join her off to the side, scanning the place for a place to sit before padding over to one of the emptier areas and sitting down. Setting his food in front of him, he picked at the wrapped food, eventually edging it out of the plastic but not doing much with the bits of protein afterward, too busy in his own think pan to focus on eating. "... What do you want to do after this?" He prompted quietly after a decent silence had passed. "Unless we go looking for our friends or maybe I'm forgetting something, I don't think there's anything else to cover..."

GC: Setting herself down next to him, she wrinkled up her nose and began picking at her food. "What do you mean 'after this'? After we leave this place? Or after we've finally settled down in our place that we can call safe? Because we could always just live peacefully and maybe find some of our friends on the way, but besides that, what else _can_ we do?" Chewing her food thoughtfully, she stared down at her lap as she spoke, one hand resting on her knee.

CG: "Either one, I guess," he replied after a moment of consideration. Taking a bite out of his microwaved grubwrap, he chanced a look over at her. "I'm not sure to be honest... Our friends, though. Heh, don't tell me you're thinking about ringing up Sollux or someone and dragging them into this. He'll be pretty fucking pissed." He remarked, something close to an odd sort of amusement worming its way into his voice, despite the serious connotations of the thought.

GC: "In that case, I absolutely have to. Hearing you two idiots shout at each other is worth all of his pissiness twofold. Hell, maybe we could find Vriska too..." Pausing, she smiled, a wave of nostalgia suddenly washing over her. It had been a long time since she'd seen any of her friends, save for Karkat. She was sure that little Ms. Serket was out doing something totally illegal, but for once in her life, she didn't care about the law. She just... missed her.

CG: "I thought the idea was to live 'peacefully'. Inviting those two is inviting two kinds of hell to the underworld we already have running. I hope hearing all of us bickering under the same fucking roof will be worth the loss of any chances of sleep you have for the rest of your life along with everyone else's." He chuckled lowly despite himself, scooping at the protein slurry on his tray. "Hm... You have any idea where they even are now?" He asked after a moment. "Last I checked, Sollux was still wrapped up in wires in computraitorial cyber engineering. It's sort of been a while though..."

GC: "Karkat, if you didn't have at least some sort of chaos going on in your life, I'm pretty sure you would lay down and die, just like that. You can't even help yourself from bickering with me every once in a while." She laughed, nudging his side lightly. Then, quieting, she replied, "We could probably track them down if we tried hard enough. I mean, we already managed to get away from the government. It shouldn't be harder than that."

CG: "To be fair, you're a fair amount of chaos on your own. Though, I did bail us out." His mouth curved upward slightly, the lightening mood welcome to him. Setting down his fork he looked back over at her, mellowing back down into a more somber demeanor. "And if tracking them down involves getting back into the thick of it? I'm pretty sure getting in and getting out again with another person or so could prove to be a whole other fucking level." Looking away at the floor, he went on to say, voice quieter than before. "Do you think they'd want to come with us? _Should_ they even come with us?"

GC: She hesitated, unsure how to answer, before reaching out a hand and gently giving his arm a squeeze. "How about we let that question wait until after we get our asses to safety, alright? We don't need more stress piling up on our plates." Smiling kindly, she prodded him. "Now eat up. We can't have you starving to death." With a giggle, she followed her own advice, turning back to her own food and digging in.

CG: "Yeah that's... probably a good idea. We have enough to focus on as is." He offered the slight twitch of a smile again but nothing more, turning his attention back on his food and following suit. Afterwards, he admittedly felt slightly better, finally indulging in a full meal, questionably smelly microwaved food or not. Standing up he dumped what remained on his tray, turning back to Terezi and wiping off his hands. "You good to head back to the blocks or...?"

GC: She nodded quickly, finishing up her own food and getting rid of it. "Come on. We've got tons of shit to plan." With a grin, she took his hand and eagerly pulled him down the hallway, practically bouncing with energy after the first full meal she'd had in the last few days. Finally reaching his block, which had somehow just become their main meeting place, she opened the door, motioning for him to go inside. "Ladies first."

CG: He arched an eyebrow but decided to play along, if only slightly. "Gentleman," he muttered curtly, striding inside. 


	9. Society - Act II, scene v

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the two trolls encounter more plot (finally).

CG: "Are you implying I'm just as dangerous as you and the rest were when you played those goddamn games of yours?" He asked, walking to the desk and turning to look back at her. "If you are then by all means, let me through the fucking door first. Actually, come to think of it my sect was above yours wasn't it? Technically wasn't I a superior to you?"

GC: "Superior? Maybe. But let's not forget who begged and pleaded to take the damn role of superiority. Oh, who was that again?" She stepped nearer to him, narrowing her eyes with a smirk. "Was it Mr. Vantas? Why I believe it was!" Her smirk widened into a grin as she got right up in his face, practically standing on the tips of her toes as she dared him to even try to respond with something better.

CG: "Is that what you heard? I thought you knew better, head legislator. If you did your fucking homework maybe you would have figured that was actually fucking lies and slander spread by jealous-ass adversaries." He crossed his arms, looking down at her and chuckling a little before going on, lowering his voice between them. "I don't suppose while we're at this we need to bring up your incident with the proteinbarter device during that investigation at the restorationblocks."

GC: Her eyes widening slightly, she stammered, "We agreed not to ever bring that up again!" She pouted, holding back the smile that she could feel already creeping back onto her face. No one talked about that incident. No one. After giving his arm a light punch, she crossed her own arms as if to challenge him to ever bring up the topic ever again.

CG: "Who is to say I didn't have my fucking fingers crossed? Come on, Pyrope, all your jabs and drubbings to my respiratory rigging and I'm not allowed the advantage this one time?" He grinned something small and toothy, definitely having crossed the "cheeky" boundary a while ago, the little shit. Rubbing his arm he seemed to settle down slightly, letting a moment pass for them to recover before he mentioned ever so quietly, under his breath. "Still wondering why you thought it was easier to not wait for the mechanics to come and crack that thing open and get yourself stuck in that predicament."

GC: Scrunching up her nose, she immediately countered, "You know exactly why I didn't wait for the mechanics. I refused to be ridiculed like that in front of my peers and or coworkers. You're very lucky that you were an exception." She huffed, raising her chin in playful defiance. Then, giving his chest a quick poke, she threatened, "Maybe next time you get yourself in an embarrassing or compromising position I won't help you out."

CG: "Implying getting stuck like you did was any better?" He raised an eyebrow at her, obviously still immensely amused by this. Batting away the offending hand easily, he pretended to scoff at her threat more or less, snorting and turning his head away. "If history is anything to go by, you'll probably be the fucking cause of the aforementioned embarrassing or compromising position. In either case, I can dig myself out of it just fine."

GC: Her eyes flashed dangerously and she smirked, unfolding her arms. "Oh really? I guess I know what my next project is." Taking fistfuls of his new shirt, she pulled him close and whispered, "Let's see how Mr. High and Mighty Karkat can get himself out of this one. I'd love to see you try." Then, immediately letting go, she began cackling at the act she had just pulled. This was most definitely taking teasing to a whole new level.

CG: Only having enough time to think an articulate and completely valid "Oh shit" before he was tugged forward, Karkat bit back something too nervous for his taste and only swallowed for good measure. "I uh," was all he managed before she had let him go and started cackling like her usual self. "Oh yeah, you've just reached a whole other tier hilarity. Congratulations you've moved on from chucklefuck to laughsassin. Keep working at it and you might just knock someone dead," he remarked sarcastically after a moment, leaning away from her back against the desk, still working on recovering from her small stunt.

GC: She grinned, nudging him teasingly. "Admit it, you were scared. You thought I was going to do something absolutely horrible to you." With another laugh, she lowered her voice just enough for it to sound menacing. "Maybe I actually will." Giving him a wink from behind her bright red glasses, she crossed her arms again as she turned her back to him, striding across the room.

CG: Clearing his throat, he mumbled something along the lines of a protest he didn't have the spine to voice any louder just yet and hesitantly turned his back to her. "I um, guess I better keep on my fucking toes then." He managed, drawing one of the pieces of paper toward himself and fishing around for a pencil, eventually finding one in one of the drawers. "Right, okay... Antics aside, about that load of shit to plan..." He started, moving on and sketching out the directions Ysirem had given them, creating a very rough map of sorts. For the most part he was just looking for something to do, something to move on to, but it did help to have a visual.

GC: Coming back behind him, she peered over his shoulder. "So you're displaying your incredible art skills now?" With a quiet giggle, she pointed at the map, her finger just a little off her mark. "We're here, right? So if we head this way..." She trailed off, tracing the map with one finger, taking small sniffs in between the different locations.

CG: "Yes, take a whiff and be fucking astonished. Just... don't lick it." He shot her a sideways glance that was only half-serious before looking back at the scrawling and setting his pencil down. "If we go that way, we'd pass by the coastal city but keep out of it's way for the most part. I'm not too sure what's north of us, or west for that matter except for what Ysirem said. Woods and towns, until I guess the next big city crops up."

GC: Scrunching up her nose, she leaned closer to the map to get a better sniff. "We could probably hide out in the woods for a while. Hey, maybe I can even rebuild my old hive." She grinned up at him excitedly, giving his side a quick nudge. "I'm sure there'd be plenty of room for your own recuperacoon too so we won't have stay cramped in one like we've been doing for the past few days."

CG: "Oh, so you know how to construct hives and recuperacoons now? I thought you specialized in just sewing and hijacking into buggies," he said, a hint of skepticism and humor in his voice as he glanced down at her, smirking slightly. "Maybe, in the mean time, we should just build a larger recuperacoon, unless your sleeping habits improve significantly by then," he suggested lightly, pulling back and folding his arms again.

GC: "Are you implying that you enjoy sleeping next to an ex-legislacerator in the slime every night? Hmm?" She raised her eyebrows mischievously, straightening back to a standing position and giving him a light push with her shoulder. "Hmmm?" Was she taking this too far? Maybe. Was she enjoying it? Definitely. With the whole mess going on around them, it felt good to just be able to relax and tease Karkat. His reactions were always worth it in the end anyway.

CG: There was an expected flush in his cheeks, but he managed to nudge her back, taking the opportunity to distance himself a little from her and step to the side a bit ever so casually. "Hah, flattering yourself much ex-legislacerator?" He supposed he walked into this- no, fucking drove a scuttlebuggy into this, but now he had to focus on getting out of it, or at least glancing at the paper in front of him as opposed to returning her look. "I'm just... being reasonable. It would be easier to build one larger recuperacoon as opposed to two separate ones, right? That and past nights contradict your statement actually; maybe it's you who enjoys sleeping next to an ex-threshecutioner." He chanced a slight smirk again, though it was brief.

GC: "Your argument is weak, ex-threshecutioner and the flush in your cheeks renders it invalid." Returning his smirk, she edged closer, aiming to back him up against a wall or into a corner like a scared beast. "Although, I must admit, your cheeks do smell rather delicious, but I think I'll spare you the embarrassment of being licked just this once. After all, you do have to endure another night of sharing your coon, but seeing as you haven't protested yet, I'm sure it isn't that bad."

CG: Eyeing her warily, he stood his ground and merely straightened back up to leer over her a little, keeping one hand on the edge of the desk as support. "Am I supposed to just count myself fucking lucky as hell you decided to spare me? Or do I have to pay for it later?" He narrowed his eyes down at her, amused yet suspicious. "Also, just to add on to my earlier "weak" argument, last I checked you were the one to come to _my_ recuperacoon."

GC: "And last time I checked, _you_ didn't bat an eyelash." Her smirk softened into a kinder smile, but only for a moment before a wide grin spread across her lips. She got right up in his face, determined to stay even on at least height as she whispered, "You shouldn't have brought up the subject of payment by the way, but now that you have... Hmm..." Stepping down as she though, she scrunched up her nose and brought a hand to her chin, pretending to think as hard as she could about the subject.

CG: "Maybe I was too busy wiping the fucking sopor out of my gander bulbs." He countered before quieting back down as she got on her tip toes again, his confidence dropping right back down to ground level. An uncertain "Um..." being all he had to say, he stepped back again to put some space between them, arching an eyebrow at her as she feigned, no doubt, deep and comprehensive pondering on the matter. "Choose carefully, legislacerator, you know how rare it is for me to fucking slip like that. This is an opportunity to be considered thoroughly... or not at all if you're still feeling merciful. Up to you," he said breezily, attempting to move on from the subject, a touch of sarcasm tinging his voice once more.

GC: She simply raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just afraid that I'll pick something you don't want to do." After a moment she shrugged as if their previous conversation hadn't taken place to begin with and remarked, "I guess I won't be taking advantage of this after all. It's no fun if I force you into something you really don't want to do." She glanced up at him, her face no longer smiling but feigning a rather serious look. Taking a step away from him, she then continued, "There's honestly no point anyway." Her serious look began to fade but she suppressed a smile for as long as she could.

CG: Holding back a surprised and probably jinxing "Wait what, really?" or something similar, Karkat couldn't help but tilt his head slightly at her suddenly austere demeanor. "Terezi...?" He inquired, admittedly somewhat concerned about the sudden change in her. Brow furrowing, he took a step closer to her again, eyebrow quirked at the peculiar change of pace. "Well I guess you could try suggesting something first and just hope I don't find it too fucking horrible to feel like it's simply not something I'm going to oblige you, I mean, do whatever I guess...?" He went on to say, tone uncertain and halting as he regarded her carefully, unsure of what was up with her.

GC: No longer able to hold back her devious smirk, she said, "Now it sounds like you actually want to go through with this." She laughed, making her way back over to him and giving him a poke. "It was a mistake to drop your guard, although it's awfully cute how concerned you got. I think I'll be taking you up on your offer to 'do whatever'" Ah yes, Terezi grew to love the benefits of reverse psychology over the years while working as a legislacerator. The results were always both pleasing and fruitful.

CG: A moment later he had snapped back into something less lenient once he realized the game she was playing, which was to say, shortly after she let out the smirk she had been suppressing. Grimacing he pushed her hand away and turned back to the desk with a groan. "Oh for the fucking Mother Grub's goddamn sake..." He muttered, partly vexed by her and partly mad at himself for falling for that card of hers, already proceeding to kick himself in the think pan. Sighing wearily, he leaned over the desk, bracing his hands against it as he tried to bury himself in the map and other papers again, but to no use. Glancing over at her a moment later, he pursed his mouth. "Well, I'm glad your legislacerator training was used to apprehend Alternia's finest criminals and now it's being used at my expense."

GC: "Oh come on, you aren't even going to ask what the payment I'm requesting is?" She put a hand on his shoulder, looking up into his face as her smile faded a little. She could tell that she'd pushed it just a bit too far, but being as stubborn as she was, she wasn't going to apologize verbally, figuring that tracing small circles into his shirt sleeve was a better option.

CG: "Well, you're going to tell me anyways, I would assume. 'No point' in asking, yeah?" He responded simply, seeming unrelenting in his more-than-miffed demeanor, though he did turn to face her fully again instead of simply trying to keep her shut out with his back more or less to her. Rolling his shoulders slightly, he crossed his arms and looked down at her expectantly.

GC: She frowned, dragging out her words. "Well _sorry_ , Mr. Grumpypants." Then, with a sigh, she let her arm fall to her side and muttered. "I was just going to ask for a hug, considering you've been in such a good mood lately." She quickly shook her head, as if clearing the thought from her mind as she took a step back. "Whatever, it doesn't matter." It felt like a heavy weight had settled itself in her chest and it was something she hadn't felt in a long time: guilt. She wouldn't have done what she did if she'd known he'd react this way, but her stubborn mindset kept her from apologizing.

CG: At that, he seemed to soften, if only a little bit, some of the tension seeping out of his shoulders and him losing some of the scowl he had come to sport again. "Terezi, I don't-" A knock at the door cut him off, tugging his attention away from her and toward the door. A small envelop was promptly slid under the door, followed by the patter of hurried, departing steps. "Huh, I thought she said she would send it around dinner time... Oh well, nothing's wrong with being early, I guess..." He said, arching an eyebrow slightly and starting to walk over to the door.

GC: She leaned back against the desk, crossing her arms and observing him curiously. Taking her time before asking the question on the tip of her tongue, she wrinkled up her nose. "What does it say?" Something about the footsteps she'd heard outside the door didn't seem right. Ysirem or whomever she'd sent to deliver this envelope surely would have called to them or asked to come in, right? Terezi disregarded the thought, focusing back on the envelope.

CG: He was wondering much the same in the back of his mind, but he had figured they were simply in a hurry. He wouldn't be surprised if another troll was worn ragged, delivering things. Hell, it could very well have been their yellowblooded friend, laden with messages or packages and going to and from places as usual. Brushing aside the line of thought, he swiped up the envelope and tore it open, sliding out the parchment included inside. Expecting a map, he only found the piece of paper to be covered in... runes it would look like? Not exactly the markings they had seen up above, they were more intricate and older-looking. "Um... I don't suppose you took archaeology by chance? Because I have no idea what the fuck kind of markings these are..."

GC: She snorted, moving towards him to take a sniff. "It hasn't occurred to you that I'm blind yet, has it?" She leaned closer, giving the page a tentative lick before attempting to trace the symbols with the pads of her fingers. "Funnily enough, we've encountered these before, haven't we? Upstairs, right?" Hesitating for a moment she said, "Maybe they're some kind of directions? I mean they were on the mirror, so maybe they were written to describe how to get down here..."

CG: "You can see to some extent, you're not completely deprived of the sense." He pointed out while looking over the markings, shaking his head a moment later. "I don't think they're exactly the same... But you're probably on the right track. Now we just have to decode these things and we're all fucking set." Frowning, he glanced at her before looking back at the paper, trying to make sense of the scribbled writing. "Directions to what though? A way out? I'm pretty sure it's easy enough to find another tunnel and crawl... Hm."

GC: "Sounds about right." Gingerly plucking the paper out of his grasp, she made her way over to the desk and held the sheet up in front of the lamp. "Hey, come over here, nothing's appearing on the paper is it? I just want to double check there's no lemon juice on this thing, because that would only increase this puzzle's difficulty. If these symbols really are directions, we sure as hell don't want to get them wrong.

CG: Glancing up from looking over the envelope, Karkat moved to join her by the desk, narrowing his eyes at the parchment. "One minute, just..." He leaned over a little, guiding her hand to hover over the top of the lamp where the light shone out much brighter, warming the paper. Soon enough, there was some additional markings intertwined and mixed with those already visible to create a clear message. "There's... patrols after dinner. Keep to the marked tunnels, they don't look there." His brow furrowed as he read, leaning away when he was done. "You still have that map with you?"

GC: "Oh yeah, hang on." She quickly dug her hand into her pocket, searching for the slip of paper and holding it up to the light. Slowly, other tunnels appeared as the paper warmed, branching from places where exits would not even seem possible. "Have you even noticed any of these pathways before? They don't seem... natural." She furrowed her brow, staring intently at the parchment as she tried to get a better sniff at it.

CG: "These guys specialize in hidden pathways and the whole secret area deal, I don't think we were supposed to notice any of this..." He said pointedly, analyzing the map, eyebrow arched somewhat. "Suppose they're still rather paranoid after whatever the fuck went down last time, seeing as they have patrols walking around among their own, new visitors or no new visitors. Betrayal do you think? Considering our 'friend' right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like that..."

GC: "But if we have a 'friend', does that mean they're the betrayer? Or just help? Can we even trust whoever it is? Plus, if we happen to bump into the patrols, what are we even supposed to do? Karkat, this is just a bit too risky for my liking..." She frowned, studying the map intensely before perking up a little. "We need an a plan if we want to make it through this and we both know we're amazing at coming up with those." She giggled quietly, focussing her attention back on the troll next to her.

CG: "Trust me, I've been wondering the same..." He sighed, crossing his arms loosely and flicking his gaze back over to her. "I think we're back to hanging around here for another night or so... Maybe we can gather something else in the mean time, more information. Something. ...Or," he started again, turning and leaning himself up against the table, "We can still try to get out of here tonight, but instead of just staying in our blocks after dinner, we finish earlier, find one of the tunnels and quickly hole up in there before dinner's done. Or again if we stay, we can try that a later night once we've... gotten our things all together I guess?"

GC: She snorted quietly, raising an eyebrow. "Things? What things? All we managed to procure was a new set of clothes and we have our weapons, so there's really not much to take." With a sigh, she brought a hand up to massage her temples. "I don't know... I feel like the faster we get out of here, the better. Our friends up top are probably gone by now and if we have good enough luck, they won't have damaged the scuttlebuggy."

CG: "If the buggy is even there anymore, do you think they would have taken it to return it? Or at least as collective evidence?" He supposed, starting to drum his fingers lightly as he thought. "I'm not sure. You think another night could kill us? As you said, we don't even know if we can trust whoever this is who's helping us. Frankly, I'm more than a little put off by how they seem to have an idea of what we're planning... when we've only ever discussed in detail in here," he said, his voice getting quiet toward the end of that, the line of his mouth dipping into a troubled frown.

GC: "Wait a minute..." She fell silent, getting up and walking around the perimeter of the room with one hand on the wall. Her fingertips gliding gently along the wall, she felt for any bumpy surfaces, especially in the corners of the block. A small hole in the wall caught her attention and she stopped moving, sniffing at her discovery. "Hey Karkat, come have a look at this. I never noticed this before, but even though the room is simple, the walls are a lovely color to smell." She turned her head to him, and while her voice was sweet, her eyes had a more serious look to them as she motioned for him to come over.

CG: Raising an eyebrow at her, he watched her make a round in the modest block and feel along the walls, taking but a moment to catch on to what she was doing and tensing. Pushing himself off and away from the table, he made his way over to her quickly, peering at the hole in the wall and looking back at her. "Yeah, guess you could at least give it that. It's not a bad color." He commented as he glanced at her, mouthing "Bugged or what?" to her when he was done, turning back to inspect the wall further, moving his hand over the area lightly.

GC: Taking a moment to process what he had mouthed, she shrugged before turning towards where they'd stashed their weapons. Quickly retrieving her cane, she aimed the tip at the hole, glancing at Karkat before ramming into the wall. "Whether it was bugged or not, whatever that was is gone." She folded her cane, placing it back in the box with neat precision.

CG: Snatching back his hand once it was obvious what she was going to do, he only had a brief moment to shoot her something close to an incredulous look before she had a stab at the wall, literally. Stepping back from the wall slightly, he glanced to the marred whole and then back to her again, still seemingly taken aback. "Well, that was real fucking subtle," he remarked. "I think they know the jig is up now. Yeah, pretty sure..."

GC: "Still up for staying for another night?" She grinned, amusement evident in her tone. Laughing before he could even answer, she knelt near the boxes filled with clothing and pulled out a particularly large sweater. Then, she began piling a few garments of clothes on top of it including the dress she'd received from Elsevi before tying up the sleeves of the sweater to make a sort of makeshift sack. "We can smuggle some food in this later. Same with our weapons."

CG: "I don't think we have much of a choice otherwise..." He grimaced, sparing the wall another look before walking over to where she was. "You think we can get out of here tonight though? Whoever knowing what they do." He crossed his arms tightly against his chest, looking down at her as she made the small pile of clothes and fashioned the makeshift bag. "Were they baiting us? Actually trying to help us? Just fucking around with us? We're not sure what they were aiming for exactly. And... We're not even sure if they might resolve to alert Ysirem to what we're planning." He rambled on, clearly still rather troubled.

GC: "Dinner isn't so far off now, so all we can do is just chance it." She sighed, glancing at the recuperacoon. "I'm seriously going to miss getting a full day of sleep." Standing up, she swung the bag over her shoulder and adjusted her glasses. Then, finally taking note of his agitation, she spoke softly. "We'll get out of here just fine. They don't have a reason to keep us from leaving nor can they do anything about it."

CG: He refrained from saying how she didn't know that, how they weren't certain of much of anything here. Of course that wasn't really anything new, but it didn't change the fact that it played a fair part in their escape, something he had made a priority for them both, but especially her. They could be keeping them here because they were paranoid they'd let slip about them, for some crackpot religious thing, or whatever. And as was made very apparent when they first arrived, there was just two of them and a whole community to restrain them. Scowling, he flicked an uncertain gaze from her to the door and back to her again before forcing himself to exhale. "Right, and what are you doing with that now? Not everyone's at dinner yet, if you're thinking about depositing that in one of the tunnels somewhere."

GC: "Do you think anyone would notice if we went and tried to open the secret passage now and then come back to it after we snag some food? I mean, we can always eat on the go, so if we slip out during the chaos, we probably won't be noticed." Already half way to the door, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening. "We won't make it to a safe place before sunrise. That's not even possible. What are we going to do? Take refuge in one of the hives on the surface? Or do you think these guys would come looking for us?"

CG: What tension he had managed to ease out of his shoulders snapped right back at her observation. Swallowing, he seemed to consider something before stepping to her, meeting her eyes evenly as he spoke. "Terezi, the hives are doorways to the surface and back down. That wouldn't- that wouldn't work. I don't think they'd just let us go, especially knowing we couldn't have made it all that far." He sighed, actually seeming to deflate a little as he went on. "Before, the idea was to get our shit together, sleep another night, and then get the fuck out of here once the sun set before anyone could miss us. I'm not sure how much of an option... any of this is anymore."

GC: "So what the hell do we do? Stay locked in here for the day and just make a run for it tomorrow evening?" Despite the tension in her voice, her shoulders slumped and she stared at the ground, her arms hanging at her sides. "I guess that could work, right?" She didn't bother to look up at him, only dropping her makeshift bag on the ground as a deep frown formed on her face.

CG: "To be honest I don't think we have much of a choice here. Making a break for it now or later... We'll just have to wait and see." He frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder and glancing toward the door, some of the many what ifs in his head making it seem like someone of the unfriendly sort was going to come knocking at any moment. But for now, it seemed it was just him, them remaining as the only two in the block and not a hint of someone looming outside. At this point he didn't know what was worse, having his nerves on edge and expecting trouble, or the trouble actually becoming a threat.

GC: She took a step closer, wrapping her arms carefully around his torso in a gentle hug as she buried her face in his chest. Then, her speech coming out muffled as she mumbled into his sweater, she said, "But Karkat..." She looked up at him as she trailed off, her frown replaced with a cheeky smile. "You forget that I _can't_ see." Giving him a light nudge, she giggled quietly.

CG: "You really enjoy running that past fucking ground level don't you." He commented dryly, though instead of acting the small urge to playfully push her away a bit, he chose to keep her close, returning the embrace. Flicking his gaze away from the door back down at her, he rested his chin lightly on the top of her head with a small sigh, trying to get a better hold on his thoughts finally.

GC: "You bet I do." Her playful smile changed to one filled with warmth as she held him close and, after a moment of quiet, she remarked, "You know what I wish we had? A couch. Then we wouldn't have to stand so awkwardly in the middle of the block all the time." Giggling under her breath, she nuzzled into him as she gave him a playful squeeze, only pressing closer against him.

CG: "A couch would be pretty nice. Guess that'll be one of our priorities once we get out of here and get to building that tree hive, yeah?" He snorted somewhat, tilting his head a little to nuzzle the top of her head. "Hopefully, whatever fucking monstrosity we manage to construct is at least a little more comfortable than that rickety-ass chair over there," he said, his mouth twitching up slightly at the lightening mood, if only for the moment.

GC: "Oh yes, anything but a rickety-ass chair." She rolled her eyes, giggling again. "What ever would we do if we had to live with a chair like that? It would just be the worst! Can you imagine? What, with it's rickety-ness. See! It's so awful that now I'm making up words to describe it." She tilted her head up just a bit to look at him, a sarcastic grin taking up most of her face as leaned closer to get a good whiff of his expression.

CG: "Dare I say we'd be better off just contenting ourselves with just no fucking lounging apparatus at all at this point." He went on to say, a wry smile complimenting his tone as he looked down to meet her eyes, amusement clear in his expression. "Really though, I seriously hope we're able to make something close to that if not better than it. Otherwise we may just have to actually go without that kind of thing for a while. It's either an inviting cave floor or the wooden one we may be able to manage with the tree hive, assuming we get the damn roof up too."

GC: She chewed her lip as she thought for a moment, a mischievous twinkle in her broken eyes. "The floor huh? Doesn't sound half bad." Pausing, she leaned closer as if to intimidate him, coming off as rather silly when she continued. "Care to join me?" She gave him a wink as she let go of him, dramatically beginning to fall backwards. Whether he caught her or not, the floor still seemed more convenient than standing for long periods of time.

CG: Raising an eyebrow at her, he pulled back as she got closer before he realized what she was doing. His eyes widened a little with a start and he quickly moved to catch her, grasping her arm and pulling her back pretty much flush against him securely. Giving her a "What the hell were you thinking?" look, he stood them upright again before giving her some space, keeping a careful eye on her. "Alright, lets avoid getting bruised in one of the stupidest ways possible and not test gravity? It works just fine. Who the hell knows, we might be sore later after escapade number two. So... yeah, lets not try that again."

GC: She cackled freely, rolling her eyes. "You're such a party pooper. I just wanted to sit on the floor with my good old buddy, the ex-threshecutioner, and get comfortable." Shaking her head, she crossed her arms and got right up in his face, stretching out her words. "But no, safety first he says. I guess I have no other option but to sit in the rickety-ass chair, huh?" Feeling rather giddy, despite their gloomy situation, she booped his nose before making her way over to the chair and crossing her legs.

CG: "By all means sit on the floor, but there's easier ways of reaching it than just falling on your ass." Flushing slightly, he turned to watch her make her way past him to aforementioned rickety-ass chair. Crossing his arms almost defensively, he tried to ignore the fact he maybe came off as just a little overprotective right then. Walking over to her, he took to leaning on the desk again. "You know at this point, we probably should have just dragged the chair from your block over here. It's no couch but then it wouldn't be between both of standing, on the floor, or one of us hoping that thing doesn't give and one of us getting splinters." He commented, nodding to the chair and patting his hand on the desk respectively.

GC: "First protecting me from falling on my ass, now splinters? What next?" She giggled, noticing the pale red that dusted his cheeks, but saying nothing of it. Standing up, she motioned grandiosely to the chair, saying, "But please, by all means, if it's the chair you want, have a seat." She plopped down on the floor nearby, flashing him a toothy grin as she leaned her back against one of the legs of the desk.

CG: "I didn't say I wanted the damn chair, you can just- aand you're on the ground." A moment too late in his protesting, he shot her a weary look before shaking his head and plopping down in the chair himself. "You're edging toward ridiculous territory, you know that right?" He muttered, looking down at her and leaning forward a little, resting his arms on his legs. "More than you have been lately, anyway."

GC: "Oh come on, let me have at least a little fun. I'm tired and I haven't really gotten that much of a chance to relax like this. Can you blame me for acting like this, just for a little?" She sighed, closing her eyes and crossing her arms as she rested against the desk with a pleasant smile on her face. "I just really want to get out of here more than anything right now, so we can live semi-normal lives, even if it means having to hide for a while."

CG: "All considered, guess I can't really." He admitted airily, moving to rest his chin in his hand, allowing himself a ghost of a smile. "As normal as a life on the run from the government and in hiding goes anyway. Not sure if 'semi' quite cuts it." He sighed, glancing down at the floor. "I'm still figuring how getting out of here will work. I mean, we're going to one way or another I just... What's going on here? Were they genuinely trying to help? Was it a trap? If so, to what end? Is whoever the fuck it might be going to come knocking anytime soon?" A frown started tugging at his features again, him talking more wandering aloud to himself than actually talking to her then, his voice quieting down.

GC: "The best we can do is just wait and find out. There's no use in worrying your pretty, little head over it." She crawled over to him, crossing her arms over his lap and laying her head on top as she looked up at him. "Maybe it's better if we don't find out at all and just get the hell out of-" She was cut off by an agitated sounding knock on the door. Upon hearing the sound, she practically sprung to her feet, already on guard. Glancing back at Karkat one last time, she called, "Who is it?"

CG: He leaned back to allow her room, letting his arms drop by his sides. The softer, more contemplative look he had adopted hardened back into something more alert and on guard at the knock, him turning to stand up with her, form becoming rigid again with tension. The question seemingly being discarded, or perhaps taken as a vague enough answer, the door opened to let an irate-looking Ysirem in, flanked by two other trolls. Sparing them a look, she glanced around the room quickly, noting them and the boxes before her gaze settled on the damaged far well. Striding quickly over to the hole in the wall, she analyzed it briefly before taking out a small picking instrument, leaning forward and extracting what remained of the small, smashed device. Dropping the ruined bug into her palm, she turned to beckon one of her companions over, handing it over to him and, with but a few, quiet words, sent him out. That having been dealt with, she sighed, taking a moment before turning back towards Karkat and Terezi, crossing her arms. "You'd think, with subjugglators on your tail, I would have been more cautious concerning you two. Or at least, expecting more trouble to come of the both of you."

GC: Her face cold and hard, she replied, "You'd think after all that listening in on our conversations that you'd realize we'd be out of here by the morning. We have no intentions of harming any of you, whether it's direct or indirect, but keep in mind, I've dealt with my fair share of spying devices." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, looking just a tad irritated as she stepped closer to the brownblood. "When you said we would be watched, spying on our conversations wasn't something I had considered. You'd think, with this whole underground community you've managed to build, I would have realized." She articulated her last words firmly, but not without a mocking tone.

CG: Keeping quiet for the most part, Karkat only spoke as he moved forward after her, offering a warning "Terezi" and casting a wary glance at the remaining troll at Ysirem's side. Clenching his jaw, he chanced a look at Ysirem. "Why did you bug us?" He started, resolving to keep his voice even. "I mean, sure there's the whole total surveillance idea, but the 'help'? What were you doing? Testing us? Seeing if we would jump at the chance to get the hell out of here? You already knew we planned on leaving in a few days so what was the point? That and I can't say we-" A tight, barely restrained voice interrupted him, growling through shut teeth. "We didn't put the bug there, damn it."


	10. Society - Act II, scene vi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author rushes to add another chapter after a long absence. Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo happy fourth of july  
> sorry for not posting in so long  
> things came up and i got lazy  
> anyway, im going to see how many chapters i can upload in the time it takes to finish re-dying my hair  
> also, i editted this when i was super tired, so let me know if there are any mistakes in there

GC: Terezi's eyes widened as Ysirem spoke. "It wasn't you? But then... who?" Her face changed to one of concern and she took a step back, no longer aiming to look threatening. Then turning to Karkat, she mouthed nervously, "Government?"

CG: With a bewildered shrug of his shoulders, Karkat glanced uneasily back at the brownblood as she continued. "We don't know exactly... Someone who wants you out of the way in one way or another. All we know is that they're among us... And they have been for some time," she went on, her scowl mellowing into a bitter grimace, a few ideas and memories surfacing in her pan anew. "I would suppose an apology is in order. Whoever was behind this took advantage of your wanting to leave early. Suppose we didn't quite help with that."

GC: "Then perhaps we'd better stay... If that's not a problem, I mean. I'm sure whoever did this is trying to get us caught too." Making her way over to the box where they'd stored their weapons, she pulled out her cane and strapped it to the belt that she was conveniently wearing. "I might have an idea as to who the culprit is, or is connected to. With your permission, could I lend my assistance?" She glanced over at Karkat as if to double check with him, but her mind was already set. Justice had to be served.

CG: Karkat hesitated for a moment before giving the slightest of nods to her and flicking his gaze back to Ysirem. "We could help, if you have someone on the inside, you're going to need someone who can weed them out pretty well. I don't mean to sound pompous or anything, but there's no better person you could have asked to look into it." The taller troll arched an eyebrow at the both of them, seeming to consider for a moment before continuing. "If you two wish to stay, we won't stop you. But I will say this. In staying here you'd be inviting, perhaps, a less 'kind' way of getting rid of you both. We could direct you to the proper tunnels, get you somewhere away from this area. Should you stay, we'll guarantee your safety as much as we can of course, but the other option is still there." Sighing, Ysirem leaned against the wall and folded her hands in front of her. "I'll be honest, we were... wary and hoping you'd stay before this. The idea of two trolls who have been here for only a little while suddenly leaving, free to blather about what they may was a little worrying, as you could imagine. But... you two seem trustworthy enough I believe. And our priority, above all is safety here."

GC: Terezi nodded solemnly. "Of course. That's exactly the reason we're staying. We'll do our best. After all, I've had experience with this kind of thing before." The corner of her lips quirked up into a small, determined smile before Ysirem spoke. "If you need anything, please ask. I'm doing my best to get any clues to who may be behind this, but so far there are none. Your help is greatly appreciated." Giving a curt nod, Ysirem strode out of the room, the other troll scurrying behind and accompanying her out. Terezi straightened up turning to Karkat with a grin. "Looks like I got another case sooner than I expected."

CG: "I would say you're being awfully cheery for someone investigating their own possible indirect murder or assault attempt, but then again, I was half-expecting them to break out the goddamn cuffs and fucking incarcerate us or something, so I won't." He seemed to deflate when they left, him bringing up his hands and rubbing at his eyes tiredly before dropping them back down to his sides, finally relaxing again for the time being. Taking a moment to settle himself, he glanced back over at her and quirked an eyebrow. "When were you expecting to get another case? What happened to tackling the trials of furniture-building and a 'peaceful' life on the run?"

GC: A hand on her hip, she leaned towards him and waggled her finger in a sort of silly reprimand. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Karkat, cases can be found anywhere, whether I'm part of the empire's government or not. I know what it's like to be professional and hanging scalemates is something childish that I don't really do anymore. I have to get a thrill _somehow_ don't I? Scalemates just don't do it for me anymore." She laughed dryly as he grin softened into a warm smile. "I'll be careful, promise."

CG: "I don't know, Count Grapetail's case was pretty fucking intense, if I recall correctly." He mused, crossing his arms and looking down at her, the line of his mouth quirking up into something less exhausted and more amused. "Guess you make a fair enough point though, legislacerator." Rolling his shoulders a little to get the last of the tension out, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Promise? You say that like I won't be accompanying you. Someone's going to have to watch both of our asses and make sure you are in fact careful."

GC: "That's the spirit! Not sure if you'll be able to do that literally though, considering that you're probably not flexible enough to watch your own ass and mine at the same time." She laughed, stepping closer and giving his shoulder a light, playful nudge. "It's seriously time to get into a business mindset though because we're going to have to start working on this pretty soon. Maybe even now..."

CG: He shook his head, not even bothering trying to make a retaliation against the nudge to even the field. Exhaling easily, he returned his attention back to her, straightening up and meeting her gaze, just vaguely resembling a soldier coming to attention. "Alright, that you have a fair point about. Where should we start, legislacerator?" He inquired, his thoughts already flitting to a few starting points.

GC: "I thought you'd never ask. The most sensible thing would be to question the most suspicious person we know." She paused, making her way over to the desk and pulling out a fresh sheet of paper and a pencil. Then, turning back to him, she continued, "After that, we use whatever we've got to branch out and solve this." Her face completely serious, she wrote a single name in the middle middle of the page: Elsevi. Quickly folding up the parchment, she stuffed it into her pocket and walked briskly to the door. "Shall we?"

CG: He nodded to her in agreement and strode over to the door with her, propping it open and letting her out first. "Lead the way then," he said, motioning her out the door. "Elsevi, depending on how long she has been here, you'd think being the main errand runner here she wouldn't have much time to well... plan anything? Between running all over this place and checking back with Ysirem and whoever." He remarked, more or less musing aloud to himself as they walked down the hall.

GC: Walking ahead of him, she shot him a glance over her shoulder. "You forget, threshecutioner, that there are often many accomplices and decoys in cases like these. That is why I have my cane with me. It'll help me get all the answers I need." She winked before facing forward again, a smile creeping across her face. Terezi prided herself not only on her ability to smell deceit on those who were guilty, but to get them to admit to it as well.

CG: Despite her excitement, he couldn't help but grimace slightly. He knew very well how ugly things could get. Hell, it was a given pretty much with his occupation, but that didn't mean he necessarily anticipated it. He wanted to catch whoever was spying on them and finally get some answers, but he'd rather not Elsevi be one of those "it's always the nice ones" kind of cases. If it was a front she had put up, it had been a good one, he really did not want to picture her or anyone apart of this group for that matter as an enemy, a deceiver. "Hopefully it doesn't come to anything more than some scaring." He said, trailing behind as they neared the tunnel Elsevi had disappeared down a few times during their first encounter. "You think we could catch her at dinner or should we have a look in there first?"

GC: "Depends. Are you the kind of guy who enjoys small, cramped spaces? Because that's what we might be heading into if we go looking for her over there. I've got no problem with it, but still." She stopped, waiting for him to catch up and raising an eyebrow. "You up for another adventure?" Barely waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and began dragging him down the hall as she searched for some kind of entrance into a storage area.

CG: "Not a fan of them, but I've managed." He walked up to her, tilting his head slightly before he found himself being tugged down the passage. "Um, yeah sure, Terezi, let's head down this way first, sounds like a plan." Shooting her a slight look, his tone held a facetious note, but he shook his head and moved to keep up with her regardless, striding beside her until they reached a door with a slightly worn sign hanging on it, reading "Storageblocks". Glancing at her, he leaned forward to try the knob only to find it locked, though that wasn't much of a surprise to be honest. "Alright, looks like we're off to pin down someone who has a key. Either that or hope they don't mind some lock-picking."

GC: "I hope you don't expect me to do the lock-picking. Opening a car was one thing, but a simple lock like this?" She giggled, shaking her head. "There's no point of going inside. If it's locked from the outside, no one is likely to be trapped in there. The best option is to continue our search, unless of course, curiosity is killing the Kat." She smirked at her own little joke, giving him a nudge.

CG: "What, we're looking for hostages now- wait. Did you just..." He turned around to face her fully, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes down at her. "Don't tell me that was a fucking pun on my name." He groaned a little, a pained sort of tone to his voice letting her know he had caught on to her joke well enough. "What the hell happened to that 'business mindset' you were talking about earlier now?"

GC: She pulled an innocent face, staring at him with huge blind eyes. "Whoever said I couldn't have fun on the job? Business is still being treated like business after all." A grin breaking her expression, she crossed her arms and straightened her back defiantly as she tried to get closer to his height. "Come on, it was funny, you have to admit it was."

CG: "Yeah, you'll really knock them dead with that one. I mean, you did just about kill me...slowly... and painfully..." He suppressed a grimace and turned to start heading back toward the main cavern, reaching back to tug her along. "Come on, my oh so hilarious legislacerator, lets go see if we can find anyone of interest at dinner. If not, guess we could head back here with someone or after getting some keys and having a look around."

GC: She giggled, trotting along behind before evening out her pace and striding beside him. "Who knows. Maybe we'll find our little suspect there with any friends she might have. This is just a hunch, but I get the feeling someone has been ordering her around much more than Ysirem." Frowning as they finally made their way to the main area, she sniffed the air, searching for the yellowblood.

CG: "Or she's being framed, it wouldn't be that hard to pin the blame on someone else, especially her all considered." He suggested, casting a sideways glance at her before arriving into the crowded main hall, trolls still milling about and receiving or depositing their dinner. Pursing his mouth, he quieted, focusing on scanning the crowd and keeping a look out for their quarry. "Suppose there is someone else or even a group though, what would they gain with leading us out? Why don't they want us here?"

GC: She looked over to him, speaking very matter-of-factly. "Simple. We're professionals." Then sighing, she continued, "Let's face it. These guys, no matter how good a job they're doing, are still amateurs. Keeping an underground community like this is dangerous, and with us gone, there's no one with enough experience who would know how to settle something like a rebellion." Her hand found it's way to her hip and she sniffed the air a few more times before catching the scent of a familiar yellowblood.

CG: "Still... There's another side to that. You'd think, since they've been listening in on us and knew for a fact we were officials, maybe we'd be able to help these guys in a movement, being on the inside so to speak. Hell, you even said something like that at some point." He scowled, only falling silent when he caught sight of what she had smelled before him, the yellowblood sitting up against a wall, kind of apart from the other trolls. She was picking at her tray of food, but part of why she was partially separated was because of the barrier of packages on either side of her. Looking up, she noticed the two of them, pausing before offering a small, pleasant smile.

GC: Terezi smiled back before muttering, "Either way, we're about to find out. Come on." She made her way over to the troll, still smiling as she did her best not to knock over any of the packages. "You haven't been carrying these around all day, have you? I still can't believe you're the only one who does this." Examining the packages carefully for emphasis before she turned back to Elsevi, she offered, "Maybe we can help you carry this sometime."

CG: Karkat trailed behind her as picked their way over to the troll, minding the boxes as he came to stand by Terezi. "Yeah, we're kind of sticking around for a bit longer than we thought, maybe if you show us a thing or so, we can help around here." The yellowblood's pleasant smile turned into something more like a "oh well, what are you going to do" kind of smile, her head tilting a little. "You two are very kind to offer, but I'm uh- I'm afraid it's better if I take care of these things on my own. They're really not as bad as they look. I wouldn't want to burden you two either so... thanks, but it's alright, really." She glanced down briefly to pick at her food again a bit before looking back up. "But I am glad to hear you two are staying, it's nice down here once you get the gist of things y'know?"

GC: Shooting a suspicious glance at Karkat before turning back to Elsevi, she remarked, "I'm sure it is. We've already met some kind people, yourself included. Tell you what, when you're finished with you're meal, we'll help you carry some of your things. Don't worry about it being a burden. Until then." Terezi nodded, grabbing Karkat's hand and pulling him away as Elsevi was left stuttering a quiet, "Wait!"

CG: Only having time to offer a haphazard wave goodbye, Karkat let her lead him away from the area, turning back to face frontwards. Giving her a sideways look, he quirked an eyebrow. "Well... She's still not too keen on letting anyone help for someone who's the troll equivalent of a fucking packbeast." He commented off-handedly, keeping his voice low as they walked briskly away.

GC: "And that's not at all strange to you? It sounds like she's hiding something." Crossing her arms, she finally stopped in the line for food and faced him. "We have to go check it out. Keep an eye on her while we eat though. We don't want her suddenly running off before we do anything. And before you say anything, you're the one who has to watch her." She grinned, hoping he'd go for her bait. Any time was blind joke time.

CG: "What do you mean 'before I say anything'? What would I say about having to watch- oh." His bewildered expression just dropped as the joke finally hit him like a train. "... 'Business mindset'. Right..." A weary sigh escaped him, shoulders slumping as he shook his head and turned away from her to keep an easier, yet totally nonchalant eye on the yellowblood. "Did you make these jokes with your colleagues during your trials? Or do you just use them more so for my... enjoyment?"

GC: "Let's just say my colleagues were surprisingly less tolerant than you, but even they enjoyed my sense of humor, unlike certain grumpy Karkats." She nudged him lightly, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "I'm not saying that I _don't_ enjoy getting a rise out of you though. You're pretty easy to mess with, you know." Turning back to the front of the line with a smug grin, she tried to catch a whiff of what food they would be served.

CG: "Maybe you're just that provocative," he countered breezily, glancing back at her for a moment before turning his attention back onto the yellowblood and stepping forward as the line moved. "Because obviously I am not overly easy to pick at and just a reasonable man." He snorted, partially on the joking side, his tone suggesting he knew at least to some degree he was actually a fairly easy target and the fact that he had broken them out of jail didn't help his claim of being reasonable at all, though there was still an impulse to defend himself more or less.

GC: She turned back to him immediately, an eyebrow raised as far as it would go. "Provocative, huh?" Narrowing her eyes she leaned closer to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull him down to her height before whispering, "I'd be careful if I were you. That word has more than one meaning, unless of course you were implying both of them." Pulling away with a smirk, she giggled delightedly. "Oh, and 'man' my ass. You still act the same way you did as a kid. You're just a bit taller now."

CG: Still not being able to manage more than a "I, uh", Karkat cleared his throat once she pulled away, pretending to straighten his vest again just to give his hands something to do. "Well, to be fair I think that goes for the both of us. Actually, you might be a bit worse, as far as those damn jokes of yours go." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he turned again to glance back to where the yellowblood was. "...More than just 'a bit', by the way," he muttered back to her.

GC: "Aww, did I get to poor grown up Karkat? Were my silly little jokes too much for him?" She stood as tall as she could, her hands on her hips. "I guess there's some satisfaction in being called more of a child than you. It means I still know how to have fun." She gave him a wink, her grin only widening as she experimented how far she could push him. It was all a game to her, of course.

CG: "Too much as in too crushingly unfunny? Sure," He countered, looking back at her only for a second, narrowing his eyes a little and shaking his head and dropping his gaze again. "Fun? You know how to run a joke past sea level, if that's what you mean." He snorted, shaking his head, peering past passing people ad over them, keeping the yellowblood within his range of sight.

GC: She gave his stomach a playful jab, rolling her eyes. "Rude. When was the last time I commented on the shitiness of your jokes, huh?" Giggling she moved up in the line, finally filling up a tray with food. She began digging in as she searched for a place to sit, rumbles of hunger aching for food. Then, finding a spot not too far from Elsevi, she waited for Karkat, sniffing the yellowblood with suspicion.

CG: A retaliation stalled in his throat, him actually having to pause and think for a moment, trying to recall the last time he made a legitimate joke. Giving up, he decided to forgo the thought as he followed suit, getting his tray of helpings and padding over to her and sitting down on the ground, looking over at the yellowblood. "Well, it's simple then. My jokes simply aren't shitty." He said, tone matter-of-fact yet sort of distracted, his mind moving on to wonder about the yellowblood again. It wasn't exactly like she was being awfully shady over there, she was just... eating her food. Frowning, he started to pick at his own tuber paste, picking up a spoonful of the white mash before he caught her glancing their way, only to have his attention pulled elsewhere, specifically to the troll walking past them and a quiet exclamation of "Shit!" Before he could figure out exactly what happened, Karkat found his front drenched with what he figured was juice or something, complimented by bits of now soggy food. Lovely.

GC: Upon smelling the scene before her, she clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back a laugh. Then, finally letting it fall, she spoke with a more-than-humored lilt to her tone. "My, my, Karkat. Seems like you've gotten yourself into quite the predicament. Isn't this the second time you've bumped into someone like this? It appears to be a serious problem for you." She snickered at him, ignoring the stares of the nearby trolls who were curious as to what all the commotion was about. The troll that had bumped into Karkat apologized profusely before running to grab something to help clean up the mess. With all the fuss going on around her, Terezi had lost track of what they were originally supposed to be doing and just like that, Elsevi slipped away.

CG: "Not another word out of you, Pyrope. Not. One." Biting his tongue as the troll came racing back to mop up the mess, Karkat ever so gratefully took some offered napkins and started wiping his front, keeping his eyes fixed downward and determinedly blocking out the ogling crowd. Eventually, he was just left with a sticky patch of ground in front of him, a damp shirt, and still bespeckled vest and pants, the mishap being made scarce soon enough. Tossing away what remained of his food plus a sopping pile of napkins, Karkat settled back next to Terezi. "And for the record, that wasn't me, it was Mister KlutzWits- hey. Where the hell is Elsevi?" He broke off from his defense, looking back to where the yellowblood was only to find her gone. Whipping around and turning his head this way and that, he scanned the crowd, but to no avail. She was gone.

GC: Her snickering suddenly coming to a halt, she turned to look at the area where the yellow blooded troll had recently been sitting. Her boxes remained erect and untouched, hinting that she'd slipped away without wanting to be seen (or smelt). "We can look for her later. She's going to have to come back for all these packages, won't she? Until then, I can keep guard while you change into something less... well just change into something else. If you'd like, I mean." Terezi gave the troll next to her a nudge and a wink before getting up slowly to throw away the remains of her food. Then, returning to him, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms.

CG: Merely offering a grunt as agreement, Karkat got up from where he sat and went back to his block, grumbling something under his breath about how "I haven't even worn this fucking thing for more than a goddamn day" as he stalked away. While he was gone, the crowd had quieted back down, the room becoming progressively emptier as dinner came to an end. There was just a handful of sparse groups of trolls left here and there when he had returned in a safe pair of black pants and a uniform-esque grey jacket. Sulking back to her, he came to stand next to Terezi, glancing at the still unattended to boxes and crossing his arms. "Still not back yet? Where the hell did she even skitter off to?"

GC: Giving him a once over before making a face, she didn't didn't answer his question immediately. "I liked what you were wearing before better. Why do you always stick to such dirty, drab colors, huh? I mean even I've got a little color on my clothes." Realizing that chastising him for something he obviously didn't care about wasn't going to work, she simply shook her head. "Do you think we should go looking for her? Maybe find out where she slipped off to?"

CG: "What do you mean 'I mean even I've got a little color on my clothes' you had a fucking flarp outfit that was bright red and teal." Narrowing his eyes at her, he glanced back at the piles of boxes. "We're probably better off sticking around here, I mean, like you said she has to come back some time right? It's not like she trusts anyone else to-" He broke off again, as low and behold, two greenbloods had entered the cavern, immediately going over to the boxes and picking them up after examining them for a moment, hefting them in their arms before walking off. "...Okay... Never mind then." Just as they were making their way out, one of the greenbloods and turned, seeming to finally catch sight of them. Scurrying over while balancing the boxes, the troll chirped up. "Um, Elsevi would like us to apologize on her behalf for her disappearance. 'M afraid something came up and she had to leave in a bit of a hurry."

GC: "Something... 'came up'?" Terezi eyed the two trolls suspiciously, her brow furrowed deeper than ever before. She watched (smelt, whatever) as they scurried away without an answer. Then looking over to Karkat, she raised an eyebrow as if to ask whether they were worth following. She muttered, "Riddle me this: If Elsevi wanted to disappear without us noticing, why would she send someone to relay an apology?"

CG: "Didn't want to seem suspicious? Better give a late notice than none and feign that it was actually something she hadn't fucking planned? I don't know, those two kind of ruined the chances of any coverage honestly. Maybe they're just not too fucking bright..." He offered just as quietly, keeping a careful eye on them as they departed from the room. "Maybe that's why she chose them. Whatever she had left behind in those boxes wasn't anything she was afraid to leave lying around, she might have had these two just come and deliver them, and if there is something, they won't have the think pans to question it and just do as told. I mean, we _could_ have just walked right over and had a look and be done before she got back."

GC: "But we didn't. There wasn't likely to be anything in those boxes of any importance to us. Learn to give a little more credit. Everyone here is just a tad more cunning than they seem." Walking ahead of him down the hall leading to their blocks, she deemed the time right for a change of subject. "Either we have ourselves one clever squeakbeast, or a clever squeakbeast that knows how to give orders. Elsevi might not be the one we should be worried about at the moment." She trailed off, stopping in front of the door to her own block. Holding up a hand to stop him, she took a deep sniff of the door knob before gently pushing it open. As the door swung slowly to the side, it revealed a mess beyond belief. Slime was spilt out of the recuperacoon, the drawers of the desk hung open like hungry mouths, and the chair lay toppled on it's side. "Someone's been looking for something."

CG: "So what, now we're looking back at the bigger asshole orchestrating a bunch of underlings scenario again?" He shot her a sideways glance as they arrived back at her block, halting when she held up her hand. Arching an eyebrow at her, he flicked his gaze back to the massacre inside, eyes widening a little. "What the hell..." Starting to head inside, he stopped, thinking better of it and turning to walk over to his block, opening the door likewise. Similarly it looked as if someone had been through, the draws being open, some of the boxes being thrown open and pieces of clothing being scattered here and there. "For what though?" He asked, the cogs in his pan cranking as he thought. What they did have could have been replicated, was no longer of use to them, no longer a threat, and so on. "Whoever it was... They sure as hell didn't make sure to cover their tracks. Hurry maybe?"

GC: "Definitely a hurry." She joined him in standing amidst the mess of his block. "Whatever they were searching for, they sure as hell didn't find it." A light smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she came to a conclusion. Pacing around the block for a moment before dragging the chair into an upright position, she sat in the center of the bedlam that was Karkat's block, the smile only growing wider on her face as she examined the room. "It's simple, you see? They're desperate," was all she murmured.

CG: Casting an uncertain gaze around the ruined block like he was half-expecting something to pop out, he walked in to stand by her, folding his arms. "To what extent though? Whoever they are they've gotten really fucking sloppy. I mean, literally, goddamn. They know we'll know they came in here ad they were searching and that we're on their trail. What did they need to find so badly they'd risk all this trouble for?" He wandered, glancing down and scuffing the tip of his shoe against the ground as he thought.

GC: "It seems you've misunderstood." She rose from her seat and removed the cane from its place on her hip, planting it firmly on the ground in front of her and leaning on it, a smirk evident on her face. "They didn't care about how they searched here. We are not their source of desperation. We only happen to be factors the relay a positive or negative effect on their goal. We're circumstances to them. This mess? They didn't care if we found it. Think about it. If they had been focused on us, they'd have been more careful, no?" Pacing the outskirts of the room now, she found herself in front of the hole she had jabbed in the wall before and she continued musing aloud. "They bugged us because they were afraid. We were a threat to them. Well, not directly to them. Their mission, whatever that is, I mean. That seems to have changed, has it not? We aren't their timer ticking down to 'doomsday'. Something else is." She paused, glancing over at him. "Are you following this?"

CG: Raising an eyebrow at her, he watched her as she moved to make her rounds around the block, in her element as ever as she made her clarifications and statements on the situation. "...Yes." He answered, if a little hesitantly, moving to walk over where she was, glancing at the hole in the wall as he jammed his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth slightly on his feet. "We're details, not the big picture." He surmised with a sigh. "...You said us being a threat changed. Either because of what they heard or... Hmm." He paused, turning to lean back against the wall, drumming his fingers on his arms. "We were bent on leaving before. And to be honest, their 'help' was more than a little obvious? It was kind of only an amount of time until one of us realized, 'hold a fucking tick, we've only ever planned in my block'. Do you think... you think they wanted us to stay? And pulled the whole thing to make sure we stick around for whatever reason?"

GC: "Oh look at that. The little threshecutioner-wannabe has grown up into quite something of a smart thinker. You're absolutely correct. Now before I continue on my trail of evidence, note how incredibly quiet it is in here. There was no racket. Not a sound. Everything was done very... precisely." Without warning, she unsheathed her cane sword and stabbed the wall higher up from the previous hole she made. "They upgraded. Bet you didn't even notice that camera, huh?" She grinned at him and held up her hand, counting down slowly and silently on her fingers. The door burst open just as it had earlier, to reveal Ysirem standing alone. "What are you two up to n- Oh my..." Her mouth agape, Ysirem surveyed the room in disbelief. "And that's our cue. Come on threshecutioner!" Grabbing his arm, brushed past Ysirem, quickly tugging Karkat behind her as she ran down the hallway.

CG: Biting back a somewhat outraged "Wannabe?", Karkat paused as she went on to point out something admittedly pretty damn important. He had come to a still as she talked, getting quite the jump-start (again) when there was a sudden flash and shing of metal and then a satisfying sound of impact as her sword stuck another hole in the wall, crushing the surveillance technology (again). Glancing from the new hole in the wall back to her, his expression was a peculiar mix between surprised and... slightly impressed. Looking to the door as Ysirem burst in, he barely managed something along the lines of an apology before being pulled out into the hall, dragging behind his companion until he picked up the pace, though a question still begged. "Alright, legislacerator, _now_ what the hell are you up to?" He asked as he hurried along so he was trotting briskly beside her.

GC: "You watched me count down until the door opened right? Well, let's see if you can come to the conclusion yourself." She continued rushing down the hall until she reached the main room where they'd eaten dinner. Stopping to sniff the air, it wasn't long before she turned toward the hallway facing the storage blocks and ran down it. "For Ysirem to have heard me beating up the wall both times I did it, she'd have had to be in the area both times, correct? So why was she? Are you to assume that she was keeping us under her watchful eye? Of course not. That's ridiculous. Karkat, don't even tell me you were thinking that. Next point. I'm going to take a random stab in the dark (again, as usual) and say that someone or something led her there. Could Ysirem be ordered around? No, she's at the top around here. That means she had reason to believe something valuable to her was down there. Something like evidence to figuring out what was going on. Except there was nothing but us there, so it was a set up. Recall what happened last time. We stood absolutely dumbfounded while she spoke, right? Well not this time. We got out fast and we're going to the source." Despite asking him questions, she kept rambling on, barely giving him time to answer right up until the both of them reached the door they had tried to unlock earlier.

CG: "Terezi, you're talking a fucking mile a minute here, if you think I'm somehow keeping up with that rushed wordslurry you fucking spewed just now, you're going to be disappointed. Extremely disappointed. Actually, just consider legally changing your name to fucking 'Incredibly Disappointed'." Huffing beside her, the exaggerations couldn't keep off his tongue. In truth, he had gotten the gist of what she was saying... for the most part, but she was running it by him and he had to take a moment to figure it and fill in what gaps she left out. Sighing, he glanced at her, finally quieting down and regaining his composure before shaking his head and kneeling down in front of the locked door to eyeball the lock. "Alright... got anything I can fit inside this sucker?"

GC: She simply grinned. "Who says we need something like that?" Backing up slightly, she kicked the door open without warning or hesitation before breaking into the room and glancing around. Her nose was met with the scent of three trolls seated around a table in the center of the dusty room, their previous argument cut off by the slamming of the doors. One of them had managed to go blue in the face (literally) from his rage. On his right was seated the troll who Karkat had bumped into earlier and on the other side was a troll Terezi had never encountered before... Right? It took her a moment before she recognized him as the rude troll they had passed when the two of them had first arrived and were asking for directions. Wrinkling her nose at the smell before her, she finally noticed a shaking figure, standing uneasily in the corner: Elsevi.


	11. Society - Act II, scene vii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karkat is a flustered wriggler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy have some shippy stuff! I might post one more chapter after this today if I have the time to make up for my two week absence starting on Sunday.  
> Happy freedom day for all y'all Americans

CG: Making a note to have a talk with his companion about giving just a _little_ more of a warning before making sudden movements involving sharp objects and her feet, Karkat stood back up, glancing behind him to shoot her a look before returning his attention frontwards. Striding inside he looked to the familiar yellowblood in the corner, all uncomfortable shifts and worried glances that also seemed rather relieved. Flicking his gaze away to the three seated trolls, he moved to feel for his sickle, only to cover the movement by hastily crossing his arms. Goddamn "former head threshecutioner" forgot his weapon. Oh well, hopefully he wouldn't need it. Fixing his look on the blueblood, he narrowed his eyes. "Alright, lets make this as easy and quick as possible, like ripping a bandaid off the goddamn festering wound in your hide: What the hell is going on here?" Of course, this seemed to be equivalent to fighting fire with fire. Standing up from his chair, the blueblood met Karkat's gaze before growling out. "It's no matter to you or her for that matter, neither of you slugs are authorized to be here, so scra-" Karkat was quick to cut him off, earning him an extra nasty look. "Oh, and Ysirem's aware of this whole thing and is just fucking peachy? Right, right..."

GC: "Karkat enough. Get Elsevi out of here." Terezi motioned for him to very politely shut up, an excited glint in her eye. Taking a few steps forward, she then examined the room with a grin. "As for you boys, I'll be on my way soon enough. I'd just like straighten a few things out first." She heard the green blood laugh, speaking in an almost friendly tone. "We've heard interesting things about you, Ms. Pyrope. A great legislacerator they said." Unsheathing her cane sword, Terezi turned on him and slowly backed the green blood up against the wall. "That's ex-legislacerator. I'd be careful if I were you. I'm no longer bound by the law. I can get answers out of you any way I'd like. So, let's begin." She smirked, continuing, "Hello. I'm Terezi. And you are?"

CG: After glancing at Terezi, Karkat made sure Goksor and his blueblood pal weren't going to try anything before striding forward and proceeding to walk Elsevi out of the room. However, he stopped just to lean close to her ear, muttering quietly so only she could hear. "Don't be too free with that fucking sword of yours. These are still Ysirem's people and we are going to be existentially fucked over if we don't act like she isn't His Honorable Tyranny here. She'll rule out how to deal with her own people. Just... Be careful." With that, he took his leave, closing the battered door shut behind him. Once he was gone, the blueblood and Goksor moved as if to remove their comrade out of range of the blade. Frowning in disapproval and almost distaste at the sword, the greenblood held up a halting hand before looking back to meet Terezi's red gaze evenly. "Now, now, boys. The lass has made her... point, and I'll be damned if it isn't a good one. We are more than capable of havin' a civil talk... Now. Pleasure to meet ya Terezi, my name's Firnen. Those two over there are Kibirr and Goksor. You may 'ave already met them."

GC: "I'm sure of it." Terezi lowered her sword with a pleasant smile, stepping away from Firnen and leaning against the center table. "Now, first thing's first, I'd like to know how you boys managed to plant a bug without us noticing right away." Firnen joined her at the table, speaking very matter of factly. "Your doors were unlocked. It didn't take much to slip right in." Nodding at his response, Terezi pressed, "But how did you get Ysirem to be in the area both times we discovered your bugs?"

CG: "Trust me, that bitch ain't a hard one to trick. I mean, damn she'll just about-" With a sharp look, Firnen shut up his blueblood comrade, turning on him for a moment. "Right, now sit your arse back down and let me do the talkin' here?" Kibirr grudgingly stepped down, taking a seat again but giving Firnen a rather nasty look while he was at it. Ignoring this, the greenblood looked back to the ex-legislacerator. "Anyways... It's not hard gettin' a barkbeast to snap at some meat you 'ave danglin' in front a them. All we have to do is give our dear leader somethin' to catch her astute attention, yeah? I mean, you've gotten to know firsthand yourself how... jumpy she can be, even if she means well, bless her bloodpusher, she doesn't like takin' chances. Protectin' the people here an all."

GC: "Of course, I completely understand. I just hope you learned your lesson. If someone breaks your audio bug, it's not an invitation to install a video monitor. The ladies don't particularly enjoy that, you see. That's just a tip from a prior high official, but I recommend that you pay close attention to it next time." She paused, glancing at all three trolls in the block menacingly. "If there is a next time." A dry laugh bubbled up in Firnen's throats and both Kibirr and Goksor shot him a look filled with nervous disapproval. "You've got yourself a hell of a sense a humor there lass."

CG: "But, ah well, not quite a surprise really. Terribly sorry about the bugging and shady business, Miss Pyrope, just some observation measures you know." Lips quirked into an inexplicably at ease smile, the greenblood leaned on the table, bracing his hands on it's surface while blatantly ignoring the looks from his comrades. "But anyways, anymore questions ex-legislacerator? Something tells me it's not goin' to be long before Ysirem storms on down here herself an locks us up or somethin' of the sort, then send ya on your way commemorating your astute investigatin' skills. You are the one with the sword and the evidence here and time's tickin'."

GC: "A very keen observation to make. I'd like to know why. What for? What are you even trying to start? What, Firnen, is your motive?" She paused between questions, letting them sink in as her words echoed around the storage block. After a few moments of silence, Firnen offered up a knowing grin, moving from his spot at the table over to her side. "You want to know, eh? Sorry, honey, but that's top secret. Ask again." Metal flashed as Terezi unsheathed her sword, already at the greenblood's neck. "I believe I asked you a question. In fact, I believe I asked a series of them. I'd like an answer, greenblood." The other two troll bystanders visibly stiffened upon hearing that the ex-legislacerator before them knew their leader's color. Their subtle movements were like pleasant perfume to her nose.

CG: "Hmm... Your sense of justice isn't the only peculiar one, right? You go by your nose, like a little dragon, sniffing out 'deceit' and 'cherry red embarrassment' if history is anythin' to go by." Seemingly unfazed by her abilities and more prominently, the blade held at his neck, Firnen merely met her burned eyes evenly. "I believe I answered some of those questions lass, and in itself that was slightly generous a me. But this question, this one's a little too compromisin' I'm afraid." Pausing again, he seemed to contemplate something before continuing, even folding his hands behind his back despite his precarious situation. "An you know what? I don't believe this threat a yours at my throatstem is anythin' to worry about. You can't kill me without repercussions from our old girl, correct? And the last thing you want to do is get on her bad side. You two, well, you in particular didn't seem too fond of the idea a bein' kept here against your will. Being trapped an all certainly doesn't sit all that well with you, from what we've heard."

GC: Just as quickly as she'd pulled her sword out, she sheathed it again, a smile quirking at the corner of her lips. "You're an interesting one. It seems as though you've done your research on me, like a wriggler just waiting to be schoolfed. I'd call it admirable if it were not foolish. Perhaps you can provide me with a break from my unending boredom before you fold like a losing hand of cards. Shall we find out?" Walking over to the brownblood on the other side of the room, she examined him as if she were sizing him up. Considerably taller than her, he made as if to spit at someone of her standing. "Goksor, correct? You must be the hot tempered one. The one that'll crack." He cut her off, muttering a quick "fuck you" in her direction. The phrase was met with a cane drubbing to the back of his legs. "Far too easy," she remarked.

CG: "You sniveling miscreant, I ought to wring your little stem-" Firnen cleared his throat loudly, glaring down at the brownblood and giving him a look not unlike the one he had given Kibirr earlier. With a weary sigh, the greenblood dared to venture over to the other side with the ex-legislacerator, leaning over the table to bring his comrade back up to his full height. "Hot tempered? Sure. An idiot? Sometimes. But he knows better than to give up anything. You're wastin' time, Miss Pyrope." Turning back to her, he looked her up and down before going back to his spot. "Hmm... Don't suppose our little Elsevi is getting the same drill from your partner? I wouldn't think so... Ah, she tipped you off, didn't she? Mm, definitely was too loose with her."

GC: "Rest assured, Elsevi, pardon my slander, is too innocent to even think of tipping us off. And your partner here? He isn't worth my time. Neither of them are, I'm sorry to say. My partner on the other hand... Sure, he may be quick to anger or set off, but he's cleverer than you might think." She leaned closer to the greenblood before her, narrowing her eyes. "But this conversation isn't about him, now is it? What's the harm in telling me your motive at least? You think I'll run and tell Ysirem? The government? If that's what you believe, then you obviously haven't been schoolfed properly."

CG: "To start with, you're much too good of an actor to trust, frankly. An' while I'm not concerned about you runnin' back to the judicial buildings so you can save your hide an your partner's from persecution by turnin' us in instead, can never be too sure what you may or may not report to the old girl. I mean, I know I was bashin' her a little earlier, callin' her skittish an such. But really, you can never be too careful with these sort a matters, yeah?" Bracing his hands on the table behind him, Firnen returned her gaze, a few brief knocks at the door preceding the line of his mouth going back to being quirked up into an easy-going smile. "So sorry to disappoint you, lass. I don't think you're gettin' anything like that out a us anytime soon."

GC: "Sounds to me like you're afraid." The corners of her lips curled up into a sly smirk before she called, "Come in! We're just about finished here." She stood, making her way over to the door with practiced precision. "It was nice speaking with your Firnen... and others. I think I'd like to keep in touch after this whole ordeal." Her voice dripped with an undertone of sarcasm as she opened the door for whomever was standing on the other side.

CG: "Correction: cautious, Miss Pyrope." He chimed in, smiling at her even as an angry Ysirem stormed in. Hard gaze moving from the ex-legislacerator to the three trolls by the table, there was a flash of surprise in the brownblood's face before something colder replaced it. "You three... Right. Well, until further notice you will all be sentenced to solitary confinement." Turning her back on the trolls for a moment, Ysirem glanced down at Terezi, seeming to consider saying something for a moment before looking back to the trio, the extent of their displeasure seeming to only be dark scowls and slight frowns. Grimacing, she merely shook her head and went back outside, returning soon enough with a few guards who quickly moved to restrain Firnen and his companions. Some grumbling and shoving later, the greenblood kept his mild demeanor as he was escorted out, turning to nod curtly to Terezi. "It's been a pleasure, lass." Smiling shifting into something of a smirk of his own, he was quickly prodded out of the room by his guard.

GC: As they were ushered out, Terezi gave him a mock salute, her grin no longer genuine. After a moment, she took a deep breath and counted to ten before leaving the block to go in search of Karkat. The conversation she'd had had taken a lot more out of her than she would have liked to admit and she felt almost out of shape. Taking another deep breath, it wasn't long before she found herself wandering down the hallway that led to his, no, their block.

CG: Karkat had her beat only by a handful of minutes. When Ysirem had finally found where they had raced off to, she had someone escort a very sullen-looking Elsevi back to her quarters so she could deal with her later. After that, she managed to convince the Threshecutioner to head back to his block as well. Which is to say, he eventually resolved to, not wanting to place any(more) possible trouble on himself and his companion. Stalking back to his block, he had paced around restlessly before forcing himself to sit at the desk, glancing up when he heard the click of the door. "Terezi...? Hey. What the hell happened back there?" Saying she didn't look too good would have been too much of a generalization. Brow furrowing, Karkat stood up from his seat and crossed his arms. "...Are you alright?"

GC: "M'Fine," she managed to mumble before dragging herself in and leaning up against the recuperacoon. "I should have been able to get the information out of him faster... It took too long and I missed my chance. Ysirem got to him before I could." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'll see if I can't talk to him later." Then quirking a small smile, she glanced over to him. "Or maybe not." Hoping he'd have caught the joke, she shook her head, trying to rid herself of her tired mindset.

CG: "... Okay well, it's late, actually I think it's around sunrise. It's been a long ass night, you should go to sleep and save your fucking spongeclotting humor for when you don't look like you've been dragged around by a fucking cholerbear. We'll settle what we can tomorrow, it's not like either of us are going anywhere." As he spoke the slightly pained expression from her joke shifted into something more concerned. "Those nook-itching assholes are confined now and you've done what you can. I don't think some rest is going to kill you."

GC: She nodded with a grin, mumbling something along the lines of "yeah, I guess you're right" before beginning to strip down for the day. It only dawned on her _after_ she had thrown her clothing on (or near, rather) the desk chair and was standing in her underwear to ask, "It's okay if I stay here tonight, right?" Her voice had a hint of unsureness to it, just barely showing through her tired tone. "I mean, I can go back to my block if you're tired of... our sleeping arangements."

CG: Clearing his throat quietly, he averted his gaze, moving to pick up the discarded pile of clothing and set it on the desk. "Well, unless you want to fucking scuttle your ass back to your block in just your underwear or something, I guess I don't um, mind... I mean, with how spent you seem right now, I wouldn't be surprised actually if you fucking passed out in the hallway. So, by all means, make yourself comfortable." Turning his back on her for a moment, he walked over to the bureau, taking out his contacts and setting them on the surface before starting to take off his own clothing and putting them on the dresser as well.

GC: Watching him intently, she breathed a quiet word of thanks and hesitated for only a moment before clambering into the cocoon, making herself comfortable in the slime. "Hey Karkat?" Her voice echoed in the dim cocoon and she wrinkled her nose at the sound. "When do you think we'll leave this place?" The words felt heavy on her exhausted tongue and they came out in a sort of mumbled mess.

CG: Padding over to the recuperacoon, he rolled the question around in his pan, frowning somewhat in thought. Careful as he stepped into the pod as well, he made himself comfortable on his side before replying. "Well, we could always leave now, let Ysirem deal with them and whatever the hell is going on. Or... I guess whenever we settle this whole ordeal? I really don't know, to be honest."

GC: She nodded quietly, instinctively moving closer to him. "We might as well stay then. After all we've got nice comfortable 'coons filled with adorable trolls who double as good people to cuddle with." She couldn't help but giggle at the ridiculousness of her statement, her sleepiness quickly turning to giddiness. With a yawn, she curled around herself, drawing her knees up to her chest.

CG: Narrowing his eyes at the back of her head, he just snorted a little and resigned on moving his arm around her loosely, lightly resting his hand on her shoulder and keeping her close. He was actually much more drained than he had let on, him being too tired to even formulate much more than a grumbled "Go the fuck to sleep already, Pyrope".

GC: She nestled against him, glad for his warmth, and let out a contented sigh. For the first time in a while, she felt like things would turn out alright. Her eyes drooping shut, she rested her head under his chin, mindful of her horns as she pressed against him. It wasn't long before a dreamless sleep soon overcame her, allowing her body to finally relax after the night that had worn her out.

CG: At peace with her close to him, he found it easy to let the exhaustion of the night gently pull him into a calm sleep. Over the hours, the both of them continued in a peaceful slumber, him only shifting once or twice in his sleep just to wrap his arm around her in a more secure hold. When night came by again and hours passed into it, it would find him having since moved his head back and down so he could rest his head against her back, his arm settled around her middle.

GC: As she felt him pull her closer in his sleep, she had gradually entangled her legs with his. She didn't wake up as early as usual, her exhaustion prompting her to sleep well on into the night. After the long night she'd had before, the warmth of another troll and the comfort of the slime wasn't something she really wanted to leave anytime soon, anyway.

CG: Eventually as the night got older, he was tugged into a sleepy consciousness. Still in a haze of warmth and comfort, he only adjusted himself slightly, keeping his hold around her as he rested his head against her shoulder. It took a moment more for him to come to properly, but even when he did, he didn't make any particular move to wake her up and disrupt their peace, especially not after recent events.

GC: It was a while before she finally awoke, but even when she did, all she wanted to do was fall back into a deep sleep. Nudging herself lightly against the troll behind her, she sighed happily and turned her head, trying to get a whiff of the blood flowing beneath his skin. After a few minutes of quiet, she decided it was impossible to go back to sleep and mumbled hoarsely, "You awake?"

CG: "Mm, kind of been awake actually." He replied, speech nevertheless still a little slurred from his slumber. "Y'know, I was starting to think about waking you up and whether or not I'd have to use ice water." He chuckled quietly at the thought before nuzzling his head against her shoulder. "Thankfully, in your case that happened to be kind of a suicide mission. So the consideration was ditched like a fucking rotten plate of weeks-old grubloaf."

GC: Giggling sleepily, she nuzzled back against him. "Either way, waking up to a warm, sleepy troll is still a wonderful feeling, especially when it's the boy whose blood smells absolutely delicious. Come to think of it though, you never let me have a taste." She rested a hand on top of the arm wrapped around her torso, a pleasant smile spreading on her face.

CG: "If I recall correctly, I allowed a certain someone to have a proper 'look' at me via tongue coating my entire face with her fucking slobber." He pointed out, his breath tickling her skin as he spoke. "I'm pretty damn sure that qualifies as letting you have a taste. Actually... technically speaking, that was a whole fucking lot more than just a taste."

GC: She laughed, shivering as she felt his breath before retorting, "Once addicted to cherries, always addicted. You just happen to be the only source I've got right now." To prove her point, she squirmed a little until she was able to turn her head and give his cheek a quick lick before nuzzling against him tenderly. "It's not so bad though, is it?"

CG: "I think I've been immunized to it enough." He scrunched his nose somewhat before burying his face in her hair. "Hmm, we should probably get up some time. I have no idea what time it is, but I want to say we've slept past lunch?" He murmured, stifling a yawn and resting a hand upon her upper arm, making small half-circles over her skin with his thumb.

GC: "Well we should, but..." She pressed closer against him, stifling a giggle and replacing it with a lazy yawn. "I'm just so tired," she groaned, making sure to drag out all her words as she spoke. "I'm sure Ysirem will understand that we had a stressful day yesterday. I don't think we'll be missed." She was practically cooing now, determined not to move from her position.

CG: "Maybe. Do you think she'll have any bones to pick with us? You, specifically. Whether you got anything out of him or not, you did interrogate that asshole and his lackeys in private. She might have some questions for you." He speculated, thoughts drifting back to the night before. Humming, he still didn't move to get up quite yet despite his words, just holding her close for the time being.

GC: She grumbled immediately at his mention of the prior evening's incident, the subject still niggling at the back of her mind. "Whatever she's got to say to me, it can wait." She turned a little, managing to brush her nose against his face. "Stay here with me a while. It's not like we'll be culled if we don't leave right away. Please." Her voice was tired and soft as she nuzzled against him sweetly, pressing into his warmth as an almost subconscious method to keep herself from facing the night.

CG: Pretending to consider, because god knows whatever volition there may have been had since been rendered nonexistent, he hmm'd before finally moving to nuzzle her back. "Suppose staying here for a little while longer couldn't hurt. We really shouldn't lay around all night though. The outside world still exists, you know, and so do your digestive organs. I mean, we did sleep through breakfast and lunch already." Even as he pointed all of this out, he readjusted, wrapping an arm back around her securely. With his free arm, he shook his hand free of the slime and started carding through her hair gently, undoing knots and brushing away the soporifics.

GC: Purring almost immediately at his touch, she leaned her head into his hand delightedly. She relaxed even further than she already had been and let her eyes droop shut, murmuring, "That feels really nice..." Yawning, she shivered lightly, feeling small goosebumps rise on her bare skin that only caused her to press closer to him. "You're awfully affectionate today, by the way." She paused for a moment before continuing under her breath. "I like it."

CG: "Am I? I don't think it's all that different from the other night or so... Hmm." His brow furrowed somewhat, but for the moment he let it pass, still shaking the last dregs of sleep from his conscious. Merely setting on working through her hair, he kept his movements careful, not wanting to yank anything by accident. Eventually taking care of the last of the knots, he resigned to just running his hand through her hair slowly, rough fingertips brushing her scalp here and there.

GC: She turned her head along with the movements of his fingertips as she continued purring. "Well, for the last few days in total anyway," she chirruped into his ear. As her purring continued on for another few minutes, she finally ventured, "I bet you haven't had anyone run their fingers through your hair in a long time... It feels really good. Here, hang on." She pulled herself away despite her unwillingness to do so and readjusted herself so that she was facing him fully before slowly shaking some slime off one hand to run her fingers through his hair.

CG: Having fallen silent since her initial comment, he only watched as she withdrew, letting his arm drop back around her as she settled herself back down. "Terezi, you uh, don't have to... do that." His protest faltering at her touch, he only pursed his mouth somewhat, her fingers admittedly feeling nicer than he thought they would. A quiet settling over him again, he hummed in his throat lowly, leaning into her hand somewhat. As he hummed, eventually there was the audible hint of a sort of rumbling purr. As pleasant as the gesture was, his thought process couldn't help but be along the lines of goddamn it, he was so getting shit for this.

GC: She giggled at his reaction, burying her face in the crook of his neck as her fingers worked through his hair. Her nose somewhere near his jugular, she reveled in the faint scent of cherries and couldn't help but give him a small lick before she caught herself. Keeping one hand in his hair, she eventually let the other trail down his bare back, tracing what she thought to be outlines of thousands of dragons. "That sound is adorable, by the way."

CG: "Can your proteinflappers, Pyrope." Unfortunately flustered as he was, he had bitten his tongue when he felt the small lick at his neck, deciding not to even consider commenting on it. There was a wave of heat, warm, bright blood making his skin heat up considerably to his chagrin. Sighing, he tried to force the blushing to die down at least, inhaling and exhaling evenly as an attempt to calm himself down. Eventually settling back down, he ignored the urge to shift under her touch as she made light patterns over his back.

GC: "Aw, what's the matter? Did I get you flustered? I'm sorry." Despite her voice dripping with playful sarcasm as she gently wrapped both arms around him, she fought the urge to lick the red in his face, afraid that if she pushed it too far, she could scare him off. Instead, she moved her head a bit farther from his neck, laying it on the edge of his shoulder instead.

CG: A red flush clearly still coloring his cheeks, he did his best to shrug and pressed his face against the side of her head, taking the opportunity to hide the blush and nuzzle her. "M'fine. Not flustered so much as it's just... really fucking warm in here, might as well be a little fucking cast-iron furnace." He muttered, reasoning with himself that that sounded plausible enough, two warm bodies in a small pod. Yeah. That's it. Body heat.

GC: She couldn't help but cackle. Speaking in a sing-song voice, she cooed, "Totally flustered" as light teal dusted her cheeks. Nudging him carefully, she leaned into him and took a whiff of the color on his cheeks, causing a satisfied smile to spread across her lips. "You're lucky I think it's so adorable," she murmured, turning her head just a bit so she could at least somewhat face him.

CG: "Hmph." Pursing his mouth, he chanced a glance back at her, meeting her damaged eyes before noting the teal in her face. "And what about you? I can't say you're 'totally flustered', but you might be in the works if I'm not mistaken." He remarked, determined to turn this on her, or at the very least try to for the time being.

GC: "It seems as if you're misintpereting the color in my cheeks. Unlike some trolls, I see no shame in blushing..." She paused, letting her smile curl up into something a bit more smug. "In fact, I don't see at all." Letting herself laugh for a moment, she finally calmed down and continued, "I am simply blushing because I am content with my current situation and position. Nothing more, nothing less."

CG: He shook his head, not even bothering to spare a groan at her joke. "Hmm, right. Hiding underground with a bunch of at least partially questionable refugees, resting with me and cracking your goddamn blind jokes. Definitely sounds like the kind of environment you'd just be fucking peachy with." Snorting a little, he moved to bury his head in the crook of her neck, being mindful of his horns.

GC: "Aww, but I thought you loved my jokes. I don't see why you wouldn't, after all." She laughed, resting her head atop his with a quiet, relaxed sigh as she nuzzled against him. "And besides, I'm having the peachiest time possible right now. It's so fucking peachy, it might even be considered illegal. I might even have to apprehend the culprits." Smirking, she gave the troll next to her a light, teasing squeeze.

CG: Rolling his eyes, he settled on nuzzling her neck as his retaliation, biting back a weary sigh. Glancing back up at her at the squeeze, he quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what the hell kind of half-baked pan-formulated charge would that be? Aid and assistance in orchestrating an overly peachy situation? It _is_ assistance after all, you're involved in this, don't even think about fucking denying it. Makes me think, how are you going to apprehend the two of us, head legislacerator?"

GC: Purring amusedly, she retorted, "Easy. One at a time. Once I deal with you, it will be very simple to apprehend an experienced legislacerator such as myself." Giggling again, she ran a hand through his hair before pressing her nose into it and taking a deep sniff, both to irritate him and amuse herself. "Unless you have another idea," she continued, smiling into his soft hair.

CG: "Never said I was much of an interrogator," he pointed out quietly, murmuring against the crook of her neck and huffing somewhat at the sniff, warm breath puffing over her skin. "Hmm, I don't know. Can I top off the fucking genius of arresting yourself after 'dealing' with me? Why, it's such a great plan, my sponge is fucking baffled and the question cannot help but beg, on its fucking knees and everything: how the fuck does that even work?"

GC: Laughing, she pressed against him, trying to feel more of him against her neck. "Karkat, one does not question the tactics of a legislacerator. It's just plain rude, don't you think?" Her voice remained light and amused as her fingers found their way around the back of his head and into his hair. "Besides, just as you said. You aren't an interrogator. I am."

CG: "Enlightening is more like what I was aiming for to be honest, but I'll offer my sincerest apologies anyway to the legislacerator." A quiet purr starting in his throat again, he rested his head against her contently. "To be fair though I thought the issue was I asked too much at once. That was one question, figured you could handle it." He commented, reaching up to run his hand through her hair again and gently tugging through the locks at the back of her head.

GC: She giggled delightedly, murmuring into his ear, "I think I handled it pretty well. Besides, an ex-legislacerator like myself is too tired to be answering questions like that this early on in the night." She paused as a grin spread across her face. "And before you say anything, yes, even though it's past lunch, it's still very early and my mind can't function properly at an hour like this... Especially if I'm practically tangled with a sweet warm-blooded troll like yourself."

CG: "Maybe for your sake I should move then?" He suggested jokingly, the only threat in the inquiry in the way he shifted away from her just slightly, moving as if to detach himself from her and get up finally. "I mean, if I do have that much of an effect on you. A legislacerator should have a pan as clear as one of Her Imperious Condescension's orders after all. It seems I'm sort of hindering that to some degree."

GC: She gave him a sluggish pout, not stopping him from moving away, but not wanting him to either. "You forget that I'm an ex-legislacerator and have no dutiful ties to Her Imperious Condescension's orders anymore. I may do as I please as long as it is within the law," she stated with a huff. "But, if you wish to remove yourself from my embrace, I will not stop you."

CG: "Well, would it do anything as far as getting you to get out of this fucking recuperacoon or... ?" He inquired, remaining where he was, hovering between settling himself right back against her and getting up himself. The question was meant to only be somewhat serious after all, him already missing the contact between them.

GC: She shrugged already beginning to sit up. "You do have good reasoning. Besides, I'm getting hungry." She paused before shooting him a quirked up smile along with a furtive glance. "If you're lucky, maybe this will happen again." Finally standing, she stepped gingerly out of the cocoon, shaking the slime off the tips of her fingers. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go take a shower because I feel absolutely gross. Plus, I'm too lazy to put on my clothes just to go back to my block and I don't quite feel like making a run for it, so I'll be staying here. Looks like you'll just have to wait." Giving him a quick wink, she gathered up her clothes and slipped into his ablutionblock, closing the door firmly behind her.

CG: Admittedly somewhat disappointed in her choice, he nevertheless detached himself from her and moved so she could get out of the pod easily. At least he had succeeded in getting her out of the pod before the night ended- what was that? "Lucky?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow at her as she stepped out of the recuperacoon. Before he could question her further or even formulate the start of a protest, she had slipped away, leaving him alone in the main part of the block with a click of the hygieneblock door. Huffing a sigh, he shot the door a glance before shaking his head and clambering out himself, shaking off the last dregs of slime. Throwing on some fresh clothes, he had donned his didn't-survive-one-day outfit again, having cleaned the jacket vest earlier.


	12. Society - Act II, scene viii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the charming duo get into a charming little fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, looks like act 2 got a little longer than intended

GC: She took her sweet time in the ablutionchamber, sighing as the warm water drizzled against her back. It wasn't the high pressure water system she was used to, but it would do. Finally climbing out of the steamy chamber, she slipped into her clothes and left the door open as she began drying her hair, letting some of the steam out. "Hey Karkat, you hungry? I'm actually starving. Maybe we'll see Ysirem when we go to get food - well I won't..." She realized she was rambling, but fuck it. She was too tired to care, so she simply laughed at her own joke before finally stepping out of the ablutionblock.

CG: He didn't even bother rolling his eyes, only sparing a glance over at the hygieneblock door from his spot at the desk as he heard it creak open, her voice floating out along with the steam. "I wouldn't be surprised, if she's not preoccupied with our good friends from last night, she'll probably come looking for us." Which was to say, she would probably come looking for Terezi, the only one to really interrogate the three before they were captured. Standing up from his seat as she walked out, he rubbed the back of his neck before crossing his arms. "Hopefully we'll have a chance to get something before _your_ interrogation starts, you need some energy back before tackling any big mysteries or questions tonight." He paused before continuing with a slightly arched brow, a lighter tone taking over his voice. "Such as, what the hell did you mean by 'if I was lucky' earlier?"

GC: Gripping the towel that had remained around her neck, she was quick to whip him lightly with it. "That, Mr. Vantas, is for me to know and for you to find out," she teased as she brushed past him. Perching herself on top of his desk and letting her legs hang down to the floor, she swung them back and forth with a giggle. "Unless you've got a problem with that, huh Karkat?" She leaned closer, doing her best to get some kind of a rise out of him.

CG: "Hmph." Pursing his mouth and rubbing his arm where she had whacked him, he glanced up at her as she made herself comfortable on the surface of his desk. Narrowing his eyes, he merely reached up to give her a firm but small push to her shoulder. "Oh can it you harpy, I was just curious. Especially since, you know, the last few times /you've/ invited or asked to join /me/ in the recuperacoon in the first place. I really don't know how being lucky factors into getting you to... join me in the pod."

GC: She brushed off his words with a laugh, shaking her head. "Oh so I'm a harpy now, am I? Well if that's how you feel, I guess you'll just have to wait and see exactly what I meant, but, until then, no spoilers!" She nudged him back as she hopped of the desk with a manic cackle, making her way towards the door. "Now come on, I'm starved. I want to know if they're still serving food at this hour."

CG: "Well, it'd depend on what you're expecting. Lunch is out of the fucking question, obviously, it's not even in the considerations. Dinner? They might just be starting." He remarked, standing back up and padding over to join her by the door, twisting the knob to swing it open, gesturing for her to get a move on. "Guess that's what happens when you laze around in the slime all night," he continued jokingly, well-aware he was just as guilty of staying in the pod as she was.

GC: "Funny, I seem to remember that I wasn't the only one lazing around." She shot him a cheeky glance as she made her way out the door and down the hall. "Come on, Karkat, hurry up. We don't want to be marked both late _and_ lazy." She laughed, already much farther ahead when she motioned for him to catch up to her. "We can save those titles for when we actually have time to relax."

CG: "The Late and The Lazy? Honestly I was hoping for something more... well, more than what sounds like the worst fucking soap opera ever to gouge at the senses of any sucker who tuned in for it." He sped up his pace so that he was striding beside her instead of trailing behind, crossing into the large cavern of the dining area eventually, a few stragglers trickling by as the clanging of cooking wares echoed off the walls.

GC: She laughed, shaking her head. "You and your stupid movies." Then hurrying towards the area where the food was normally served, she asked the bored looking troll who was beginning to pack up if there was any food left. The troll simply grunted and handed her 2 packs of dry food after noticing Karkat lingering nearby. Terezi nodded her thanks and turned back to Karkat, pressing the package into his hands. "Eat up. Starving you would not be a good idea." Grinning, she tore into her food delightedly, not really caring what it was.

CG: "I thought we've covered this, my movies are nothing less than cinematic masterpieces the connoisseurs of cinema rightfully praise, unless they want to be booted the fuck out of their positions as balanced film critics." A smile playing along his lips, he walked after her, looking over his own package of food with a skeptic eye before going following suit and picking at it. "Not saying I prefer starving but to his credit, even my lusus managed to nab something better with those goddamn pincers of his." He said, crunching on a mouthful of food thoughtfully.

GC: Shrugging and shooting him a dangerous glance as she chewed her food slowly, she muttered, "At least you had a lusus. Mine was an egg up until the day she died. Besides, the people here were nice enough to take us in. They've treated us with nothing but kindness since the day we got here, even if Ysirem was a little suspicious." She huffed her words, a light frown tugging at the corners of her mouth.

CG: "A _little_? She wasn't the one putting surveillance equipment in our- in my block, no, but she did have us watched and disarmed otherwise. All because a bit of common sense any _wiggler_ should have the capacity to figure." His former demeanor fading, he pursed his mouth somewhat and glanced over at her, curious but wary. Continuing on in a more serious tone, he decided to leave the previous tangent at that. "And what do you mean at least I had a lusus? I mean... I know yours wasn't _there_ so to speak, but she still talked to you didn't she? She guided you well-enough."

GC: "You've managed to prove that you really know nothing about my past. I was on my own growing up, and sure my lusus talked to me, but the occasions were so rare, I couldn't _rely_ on her. Can you imagine a 2-sweep-old out on their own, scavenging for food? Can you? Because I can, so if I were you, I'd be fucking grateful we have any food at all. I, for one, clearly remember what starving feels like and I do _not_ want to relive that part of my childhood." She narrowed her eyes at him for a split second before turning away and striding angrily down the hall, locking herself in her own block for once.

CG: She left no room for him to talk and no time for him to respond, him only being able to watch her form disappear down the hallway, his mouth agape partially, a too little, too late reply shriveling up in his throat. Snapping his mouth shut, he clenched his jaw and looked around at the empty cavern before shaking his head and tossing out what remained of his food, no longer hungry. He couldn't bring himself to sigh because that was too close to implying he was exasperated with her when he had no right to be, a part of him chastised. Instead, he bit his tongue and padded back down the hall, going over the exchange that turned so sour so quickly. A creeping dread and shame tinged the drag in his step and the hunch of his figure. While he would have liked otherwise as it would have been easier, he found no footholds in the conversation, nothing to pardon him for what he recognized as sheer groggy idiocy on his part, even if that. Maybe it was just idiocy. Passing her door he glanced at it, half-tempted to knock. He wanted to be mad at her, and to some degree he was but it was very, very small and petty. Perhaps it was better he kept quiet, actually...

GC: Sighing when she'd finally entered her block, she slipped into the chair near her desk, one hand finding its way up to massage her temples. Her anger became tired and strained as she thought the conversation over again, beginning to regret snapping the way she did. What, was she crazy? She shouldn't be regretting that, not when he'd hit so close to home, but a part of her still nagged her to just go forgive him and apologize for losing her temper. Even feeling like that, she knew she wouldn't. She was honestly too stubborn for her own good sometimes, but at that moment, she didn't care. Her mind was instead filled with thoughts of her unhatched lusus, Karkat's idiocy momentarily being pushed aside. After a while, she found herself lost in thought and forced herself out of the chair. It was late by now, probably even sunrise. Stripping down, she moved sluggishly to her recuperacoon, but sleep didn't come quickly at all for her in the slime.

CG: Slinking back to his block, he decided to let her have her space, figuring maybe it was best they had some time to themselves anyway. The concept of necessity was no soother though, it didn't sway the thoughts that always managed to drift back to the conversation and the temptation to knock on her door. Letting the door click shut behind him, for once, he found he had his block to himself for the evening and coming day. As opposed to peaceful, it just seemed sort of... empty. Allowing himself a scowl, he settled on stubbornly pushing the thought aside, choosing to busy himself with cleaning up the mess from their friends' little visit. It was menial work and honestly didn't keep him busy for very long, but he was in no mood to sleep. When he was done and the block was in proper order again, he crossed his arms and let a sigh ease out, incredibly loud to him in the empty block. Not that cleaning his block was very taxing on his energy, he was by no means sleepy. Even if he was well... there was a restlessness in his form still, parts of him hanging on could-have-been responses, retorts, different ways that conversation could have gone and... why was he even thinking about this so much? They've fought before, it was nothing new... Yes, this one was particularly personal but... Ah well. Maybe he should just... take a cold shower, blow off some steam or something. Figuring there wasn't really anything else much to do, he headed to the hygieneblock, letting the water chill him.

GC: Whatever sleep came to her felt nonexistent after shifting around so much that she eventually woke herself. In the wake of the last few days, sleeping alone wasn't something she was used to. Another few minutes of tossing and turning went by before she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and wondering why she was alone in her cocoon. Maybe she should go find Karka- She cut herself off, remembering their fight from earlier that night. No way was she going to be the first one to crack. With a sigh, she clambered out of her cocoon, figuring she wouldn't be getting back to sleep very soon. Moving to her desk, she didn't even bother putting her carefully obtained outfit back on, deeming her underwear just fine when she was alone as she sat down. It wasn't long before she found herself absentmindedly holding a pen and doodling on a few spare sheets of paper a design that she assumed was nothing more than simple scribbles. Sighing again, she attempted to actually draw something that looked nice, knowing that it wouldn't.

CG: The drizzling of cold water down his form didn't help keep matters off his mind so much as it just subdued them for the moment, the water pattering against the eroded rock of the walls and floor filling his pan with safe white noise. Icy rivulets raced down his back, freezing him in place and keeping him in the chamber for a long while, him coming to just stand there, even taking to leaning against one of the walls and letting his head rest against the uneven surface. However, knowing he couldn't exactly stay there for the rest of the night, he eventually stepped out, nabbing a towel and drying himself off. Slipping back into his pants and shirt, he tousled his hair one more time with the cloth before tossing it into the sink and going back out into the main part of the block. His thoughts resurfacing now, he pursed his mouth, glancing at his door for a second before shaking his head. He was stubborn in all aspects; one part argued he should just go over and apologize, yet something more prideful disagreed. "It'd be giving in," it pointed out. "Since when were you one to apologize on a whim like that anyway? You're being softer than a fucking Mother Grub here, Threshecutioner. You guys have fought before, it'll be fine. Just leave it for now." Of course, when they fought as kids shouldn't really be a point of reference... Still, maybe- no, he was over-thinking this. He should just let her have her space and get over this...

GC: Continuing to draw in her own block, it wasn't long before she gave up; loving to draw was not the same as being talented after all. Simply folding her arms over the scattered papers and laying her head atop, she sighed, trying to think of something else that would keep her from thinking about the events of the night before. She argued back and forth in her head, debating on whether she really should be the first to say something, but after what seemed like an enormous waste of time, she decided to stay mad at the troll in the block next door. It wasn't really an issue of anger anymore so much as pride. She felt her eyes begin to burn and she knew that it would be wise to go to sleep, but her muscles refused to let her climb back in the cocoon. Instead, she closed her eyes, the upper half of her body relaxing against the desk as she waited for sleep to over take her, yet no such thing happened.

CG: The spare papers and otherwise relatively bare block didn't offer him much to occupy himself with, so eventually after his legs started to ache and his eyes began drooping shut, he abandoned cycling between sitting at his desk idly and pacing restlessly around the room. Peeling off his clothing, he dragged himself into the recuperacoon, feeling like he could sleep and yet... He'd find himself awake hours later, lacking anything more than five minutes of rest. Having a coon to himself felt strange to him, a fact he didn't quite know how to feel about, uncertainty defaulting to frustration ultimately. It was just another irritant to top the lack of sleep and the sluggish thoughts that still managed to roll around his head from last night. After another hour or so more of turning in the slime in false hope of getting something at least resembling sleep, he gave up, forcing himself back out of the pod once he was sure evening had arrived again. To be honest, having so little sleep wasn't new to him, but still, he dragged, slow in pulling back on his clothes and even after he had freshened up in the hygieneblock. His pan felt unhinged, constantly drifting, though it somehow managed to come back to the basics: the fight and how the hell today was going to turn out.

GC: Having dozed off leaning on her desk, she awoke with a start, her surroundings seeming unfamiliar at first, but it wasn't long before she remembered getting out of her pod. Groaning, she stood, fumbling to put on her clothes as she mentally shook herself, trying to escape her grogginess. Was it even night time yet? She didn't care. Dragging herself to her hygieneblock, she splashed cold water in her face several times until she was sure she felt awake enough to tackle the night. What was it she was supposed to be tackling again? Oh. Right. _That_. Groaning again as she remembered the argument she'd had with Karkat, she dragged a tired hand down her face in a weak attempt at a face palm. Thanks to his idiocy, she'd have to ignore him for at least half the night to even keep a smidgen of her high maintenance pride.

CG: Rolling his shoulders, he found himself still hesitating to even go to knock at her door, going as far as to wait and see if she'd come to his block first, albeit very reluctantly. He never said she was going to be her high-energy, teasing self of course when she'd come and fetch him. However, time ticked by, and after a half hour or so, gritty impatience wore him thin so he ended up leaving his block, resigning and telling himself that this wasn't giving in, this was just waking her ass up for the night so she didn't sleep in again. Rapping his knuckles on her door sharply, he managed out a bark of a wake up call, his voice roughened from the long day prior. "Hey, you awake in there? Better get moving if you're still stem-deep in slime and want something before lunch." With a sigh, he leaned away from the door, crossing his arms and waiting for an answer while mentally preparing himself for the night. There was no doubt in his mind that it was going to be a long one, even if his plan was to leave her to her own devices for the most part.

GC: Slowly opening the door after a few seconds, she brushed past him without a word, striding down the hall with calculated footsteps. She knew he'd follow so, hopefully, if she just kept to herself for the night, dealing with him wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Besides, it was far too early on in the evening to be dealing with whatever sarcastic bullshit he might attempt to spew. He was an easy nut to crack after all and she knew that even saying something sarcastic was him breaking from her silent treatment. The thought gave her a sliver of pleasure and she smirked to herself as she made it out to the main area, stepping in line to get herself breakfast.

CG: Biting back a sigh full of exasperation and perhaps a touch of weariness, he trailed behind her, pretending that her silence didn't aggravate him and ignoring how the quiet gesture irritated a part of him still too eager to start an argument with her. He kept his peace, stuffing his hands into his pockets and coming to stand behind her in line, resisting the urge to glance at her every now and then, the tense but wordless air between them ringing in his auricular sponges loud and clear; he fucked up and now she's giving him hell for it. Well, if she was expecting him to just bite at her bait all night, she was going to be sorely disappointed, at least he'd like to think so. He'd draw just a small amount of satisfaction from it maybe, mirroring her in her silence and not playing into matters. Nope, he was letting this pass, nice and easy... Idealistically anyway.

GC: Not having to turn her head to get a look at him, she smelt the expression on his face, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. Not that she'd let him see it, of course. As the line progressed, the silence grew heavier and more awkward, but hell if she was going to break it. Thankfully, it wasn't long before a certain brownblooded troll strode right up to them. "I see you've finally left your blocks. I hope you got enough rest especially after the events of the night before last." Ysirem's voice was smoother than grubsauce as she examined the two trolls. Terezi, not even sparing a glance at Karkat, spoke before he could, an overdone smile gracing her face. "Yes, of course. I, for one, feel much less tense. But what of the three culprits? I'd very much like to know what happened to them."

CG: Even though the overly saccharine smile was clearly for Ysirem, just a part of the act, he couldn't help but feel it was directed at him. Truth be told, he couldn't help but feel every little thing was directed at him, irrational as it was to think. Perhaps it was just the silent treatment getting to him, the deliberateness in her self-imposed silence transferring over to how she refused to even turn her head at him, how the only words she had spoken that night had been to Ysirem out of necessity, how she seemed to leave no room to speak even if it wasn't necessarily to her. Then again, it wasn't like he vouched to speak first in these sort of situations often, reasoned something less inclined to be as irritated and aggressive. Whatever, he wasn't going to bite, he'd repeat in his pan. Fixing his gaze up on Ysirem, he remained quiet while the two talked the night before last's events. "Ah, Firnen and his associates have been locked up in their own separate containmentblocks and restrained. Actually I would have come to talk to you to last night but I was still... settling matters with them." The brownblood sighed, wringing her hands a little as she continued, gaze dropping. "I don't suppose you found out anything when you first apprehended them?" She asked, flicking her gaze back to Terezi, tone indicating she still wasn't quite pleased with the impromptu interrogation but nevertheless trusted the ex-legislacerator handled it well enough.

GC: Immediately on cue, she answered, "I'm afraid not. Perhaps it would be alright if I interrogated Firnen once more? Alone, I mean. I had limited time the other night and wasn't able to get enough information out of him. I'd like a second chance." She could sense the nerves of the troll next to her. Good. Let him suffer awhile. It had been quite a while since the last time the two of them fought, but she recalled his stubborn demeanor down to every detail and how just a bit of silence could get him to apologize. This time though, he seemed more resolved. He was holding up longer than she thought he would. It was all a game to her, after all. Ysirem hesitated in her response, unsure whether to trust the ex-legislacerator with another investigation. Yet, sighing as she spoke, Ysirem rubbed her temples before giving the two trolls before her a miffed sounding "Go ahead." Then pausing a moment, she furrowed her brow, her look just the slightest bit suspicious. "Are you two alright? You seem a little... off."

CG: He would have to have been one hell of an idiot with a pan denser than the steel used in beetle coffer bank vaults to not figure out this was just a playing field for her, that all she was doing was making her moves, calculated and purposeful, just to test him until he'd snap. As she had come to know him during these kind of fights, he hadn't gotten through sweeps of this behavior without learning a thing or two himself. It was part of what made keeping quiet all the easier, though the silence would be weighing heavily upon them once the other troll was gone, he would be keeping out of her line of expectations and not give her the satisfaction of making him lash out as easily as he would when he was six sweeps old. Having more or less retreated to some degree in the safety of his own mind, the last bit managed to bring his full attention back to Ysirem. Straightening up, he nodded to her, refusing the urge to glance at Terezi as he answered before she could. "Um, yeah, we're still kind of worn out actually from the whole ordeal, you know. To be honest I don't think either of us slept very well during the day... We're fine though. We can uh, manage just as well." He said, crossing his arms, not having to put too much effort into the still waking up look he adopted though the words still felt awkward leaving his mouth. "Thanks for your concern... I'm sure we'll be better after getting something in our systems."

GC: Something was up. He was acting... differently. She knew she had to throw a curve ball. It was now or never. "Actually, I slept wonderfully and feel like a whole new troll." Her last few words had some bite to them, but she did her best to conceal from Ysirem. The brownblood only nodded slowly before smiling awkardly and responding with a rushed, "Either way, may you rest well. I'll er... I'll just leave you too it." And with that she hurried away, not wanting to be caught in the middle of what so obviously was some kind of fight. As Ysirem took her leave, Terezi turned back to the troll ahead of her in line, not wanting Karkat to see her nauseating smile fade. She was well aware that by adding that last remark, she'd started war on a silent battle field. Her sword, of course, was as sharp as her wit and she would make sure she won. How childish. How rewarding.

CG: Only quirking an eyebrow at the departing brownblood's form, he pursed his mouth before rounding back on his companion in front of him. What she had said wasn't necessarily all that provocative really, it was more of the tone that had gotten him, watered down or not. There was a sting of a bite there, and did it ring, ever prominent in her first verbal gesture albeit indirect towards him. Moving up in the line he openly eyed the back of her head, debating whether to talk or not. At first, he followed through with his initial purpose, pushing particularly.... frustrating matters aside and just letting her do whatever the fuck she would until the squabble had passed. However, it didn't stop him noticing how she ignored him save for that one instance just then, an ugly kind of aggravation rising the more he thought about it and exactly what she was trying to get at by saying it, contradicting him in front of Ysirem. The silence growing obvious again, he reasoned that this wasn't snapping at her or anything, he was just going to be straight and to the point about this, unlike her who made a convoluted game out of this kind of thing. "So, you want to tell me what the hell that was about exactly? 'Slept wonderfully' my ass, you look like you fucking raced around all day before collapsing at the foot of your 'coon. Actually no, you didn't even make it anywhere near your recuperacoon." He finally muttered, his tone frank, resigned even as he kept it level.

GC: And that's where she had him. She didn't turn at the sound of his voice, instead continuing to face the front of the line. At first, she didn't think she'd give him the satisfaction of responding, but she couldn't resist. Not when she had him in a position like this. "It's simply polite. A hostess loves to know that her guests are doing well just as Ysirem revels in her authority over everyone here. I thought you would have noticed that by now. Then again, I didn't realize you were keeping tabs on my sleeping habits." The silence returned, punctuating her last words with the kind of venom only she was able to pin to her words. Aside from that, her voice was calm, as if she were irritated by such a childish question but could not afford to lose he temper over it. Except this time, it wasn't because she couldn't afford it. As the line progressed, she stepped forward, never once turning back to him or even acknowledging his presence.

CG: "I thought _you_ would realize that a hostess wouldn't like her guests presenting a copious amount of bullshit right in front of her and company." He countered, still debating whether to take solace in the fact that she had chosen to reply to him or not. Something told him it was far from a victory, getting her to talk. If she was chancing exchanging words with him now, she must have felt very confident in doing so, deemed it no loss on her part. Pausing just a moment, letting a small silence settle between them again, he ventured once more, his voice nothing more than a dry crackle. "And no one needs to keep track of your godforsaken ass to see you clearly didn't sleep one fucking wink worth shit during the day." He brushed off the venom that certainly didn't reach his bones, making his skin prickling hot underneath with a mix of volatile bitterness and shame, choosing to focus on making it clear he recognized her bluff instead, that he was so certain there was no way she could have had an easier time sleeping than he did.

GC: She turned to him, eyebrows raised in the coldest form of amusement. "Why's that? Because you didn't sleep yourself? Come on, Karkat, not everyone is like you. I thought you'd at least know that." Her words remained light an airy while her voice was hard as stone. Then giving him a sarcastic smile, she didn't waste time in turning back to the front of the line, feeling quite confident in what she had said. Still, she felt a little guilty for saying something like that, considering she really hadn't slept much at all. She kept from sighing as she felt a dull coldness creep over her skin.

CG: "Would you quit the condescending act already? It's getting tedious." He bit out, trying to maintain the distanced tone he had held up until recently, not wanting her to think she was getting under his skin that much just yet. "And no, I told you, it's not like you fucking look like you got anything more than five minutes of twisting your spinal column while your pan was half-baked in slime rather than placated by it. Which is to say, you kind of look like absolute shit, as far as glamorous morning looks go." Had someone were to listen closely, they might have been able to place another tone underlying the rough gravel of his voice, something less tart and... softer almost. More concerned. Not that it mattered of course, the two of them were too involved in this little dispute to pay much mind to those kind of things, right?

GC: Tuning out his words, she was surprised to hear something... different in his tone. She chose to ignore it. What was going on between them at the moment was more important, in fact, so much so, that she kept her silence, refusing to acknowledge that the troll behind her was of any importance to her or even existed. As the line progressed, it wasn't long before it was her turn to get a tray of food, and as soon as she did, she walked all the way across the room, making sure Karkat noticed just how far away from him she wanted to be.

CG: Clenching his jaw, he tore his gaze away from her, resuming his silence as soon as she did although this time it was a little harder to bite his tongue. Keeping back a stormy expression, he kept his eyes elsewhere. At least, that was the idea up until they had both gotten their trays and she had just about sped away from him, a relentlessly sharp point made in her purposeful strides as she put a cavern's worth of distance between them. Admittedly stunned for a moment, he snapped himself out of it, much too aware of how the gesture didn't anger him so much as it sort of... Well. Straightening up, he set his mouth, sparing her one glance before slinking off to his own spot while ignoring some sneaked looks at his back, some of their fellow breakfast-goers taking particular note of the tension between the two trolls, a handful even recognizing them from the past few nights. Sitting himself on the other side of the cavern in a small area he had to himself for the most part, he kept his companion within sight, though he was quick to make sure he only glanced to her now and then and not for too long. If she wanted her space, fine, that was his initial plan anyway, to let her blow off her own steam on her own time.

GC: As she slid down the wall into a sitting position, she sighed, slightly annoyed at the length of their quarrel. It shouldn't have been taking this long. Chewing her food stiffly, she refused to even turn in his direction, not caring whether the other trolls stared or not. What was he even thinking? Normally he was so hot tempered and either ready to fight it out or just apologize... She'd felt bad pushing him away, as if it were permanent. But there was no way it could be permanent, right? She kept a straight face as she chanced a discreet sniff in his direction, her attention drawn back to her food immediately after. Something felt wrong but she refused to even give that something a second look, instead gritting her teeth and taking another bite out of her food.

CG: He picked at his food, not all that keen on eating, the setting bringing back memories of the fight to surface in his mind, fresh and renewed. Still, he bitterly proceeded to crunch down on the dry mouthfuls of food, figuring being hungry later won't serve them any better. He was already tired to start with, well, more than usual anyway somehow, even though he had gone nights more without sleep before. His shoulders slumping, his aggravation cooled in his own isolation, allowing him to observe the situation in itself. If he were honest, the separation between them felt much more... severe, than he was expecting, a prideful part of himself smothering something else that was much more sensitive than he'd care to acknowledge. Huffing a sigh, he stood up when he was done, tossing his food and taking up a spot along the wall to lean against, keeping his expression neutral as possible as he looked over to her, waiting for her to finish. All the while, he worked on ignoring a traitorous voice contemplating in the back of his mind whether or not it'd be better for him to just apologize for his idiocy already, or at least take after his past selves and start something. Then there would at least be a chance of resolving this, as opposed to how they were going about it now where stony silences were interrupted rarely with a few sharp, meaningless quips.

GC: Finally finishing her food, she walked past him without so much as a glance and threw her food away. Then, sniffing around, she searched Ysirem, and when she couldn't find her, she instead walked slowly, but stiffly down the hallway that lead to her own block. So he really wasn't going to apologize. What was she supposed to do then? Start talking to him normally? Or should she just continue ignoring him, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'd man up and say something that at least resembled an apology. She wouldn't admit it, but she was really beginning to miss contact with him, physical or not. She took her time walking down the hallway, wondering if he would even follow.

CG: Pretending that her prolonged avoidance of even acknowledging him wasn't getting harder to brush off, he let a sigh hiss through closed teeth before eventually pushing himself off away from the wall, trailing after her, but at a distance as he had nowhere else to be really. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he chanced a look at her up ahead once or twice, making sure she was heading back to his- her block. Flicking his gaze back down, he rolled thoughts around in his head. At this point, it had gotten to the stage of things where he was only sticking to his initial plan through sheer dumb stubbornness, apologies being bothersome things he had to take time to crank out usually, uncomfortably forcing them out of his protein chute. Honestly he was starting to get one hell of a headache from all of this and he just wanted matters to blow over already. Of course, nagged a voice in his head, it'd go a lot quicker if he swallowed his squawkblister and said sorry already, damn it.

GC: Ducking into her block, she grabbed herself some paper and a pencil, taking her time as she stowed her newly acquired items in her pockets. Then stepping back outside, she shut the door firmly, making her way back up the hallway. Making sure not to look at Karkat on the way back, she muttered loud enough to hear, "Some of us are actually doing things that are worthwhile, rather than following others around like lost yapbeasts." Her tone lacked the amount of harshness she would have desired, but her point still got across: Either man up and apologize, or go do something that didn't involve her. She continued walking briskly, her mind already on finding Ysirem and going to interrogate Firnen.

CG: Eventually letting go of some volition, he had at the very least started running the start of an apology through his head, a simple "I'm sorry" not sounding quite right to him. Yet, he tired of this, so he'd just have to wing it. He had been ready to test her name on his tongue again, rolling it around like a word he had forgotten how to pronounce correctly, when she exited her block and passed him and- oh. Incidentally swallowing back whatever start of an apology he had formulated, her words, lacking the bite they could have had somehow still ending up blaring in his auricular sponge clots, providing background noise to how she still refused to even turn her head towards him. Holding back, he let her get a fair lead ahead of him before turning his back on her, his hands tense at his sides and something burning at the back of his throat. Something told him there was a different point to her words, yet for the time being they stuck to him as something else, a thought or so in his pan making them out to be uglier than they were with the help of a pesky thing called miscommunication. Hesitating, he eventually he moved on to walk toward his block, jaw set, his hand only letting up so he could open his door and slam it shut behind him, the force admittedly more than he intended. The resulting sounded echoed in his block, in the hallway, and surely out into the nearby cavern.

GC: Stopping abruptly when she heard his door slam, her eyes widened momentarily before she mentally shook herself and convinced her legs to continue carrying her down the long hallway, something heavy settling itself inside her. What was it? Guilt maybe? That sounded about right. This was all her fault. She hadn't meant for such a small squabble to get so out of hand. She stopped again, debating whether she should go back. But after slamming his door like that, should she even bother with him? Perhaps it would be better to leave him alone. She wasn't up for any sarcastic remarks or quips he might throw at her after that. Whatever pride she still held deflated and she sighed, unsure of how to proceed. So naturally, she made her way back to the main hall, deciding that doing nothing was best for the time being. Still, she didn't immediately search for Ysirem, finding the cavern's wall a more appealing place to be at the moment. Sliding her back down the wall, she sat in the empty hall, bringing her knees to her chest and burying her face in them.


	13. Society - Act II, scene ix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karkat and Terezi make up, but only just in time for a more major set of events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, sorry i was gone for so long guys! i'm going to start updating weekly again because the next few chapters get the story rolling again

CG: Back in his block, he stood, still near the door that had sustained yet another beating on top of at least two burst-throughs, still trying to make sense of the sudden burning feeling at the back of his protein chute and flash of white insecurities and blood-red fear. It wasn't necessarily how she said it, the lack of potential venom presenting it as something much less harmful though still ache-inducing, it was the words themselves. At face value, it had been made clear she wanted nothing to do with him tonight unless perhaps it had to do with an apology coming from his side, so of course this kind of comment was expected, warranted even. He had come to terms with it under the resignation of letting her have her space and yet... her words managed to prod him and his ragged nerves just in all the right wrong ways, his pride taking a kick along with something deep-seated in his chest, not quite his bloodpusher though. A thought that nudged at him stemmed from it, drawing his attention back to how he waited on her, followed her even though their fight had escalated so, there simply being little else for him to do. He wasn't a legislacerator, he couldn't go and interrogate, he'd be leaving that to the professional of course, it was better that way obviously. They hadn't exactly incorporated themselves into the community yet and it simply wasn't the time or place to go and learn the inner workings of the goddamn place. An ex-head threshecutioner had little to no place here...

GC: After sitting still for a few minutes, she finally looked up at the sound of footsteps, running a hand through her hair as she stood. It was Ysirem who entered the hall, not immediately noticing Terezi, but when she did, she raised an eyebrow. "Is Karkat not with you?" Terezi answered quickly and without hesitation, wanting to cut out any silence. "He's currently indisposed. Though, when he will be up and about is something I cannot say," she deadpanned, keeping any emotion out of her voice. Ysirem simply shook her head. "No good. If you're going to interrogate the culprits, I need both of you there, understood?" Terezi about to protest, caught herself, nodding with a sigh instead. "Understood," she replied, already turning to slink back to her block. Laying a hand on Terezi's shoulder, Ysirem spoke softly to her, asking, "Is everything alright between you two? It doesn't look like you've been speaking." Terezi only smiled weakly, replying, "Don't worry, everything's fine." Then, pulling away from Ysirem's grasp, the troll dragged herself back to her blog, tired and distraught.

CG: Unconvinced, the brownblood watched Terezi disappear into her block, a raised eyebrow furrowing as her brow met in a frown, concern replacing curiosity. Shaking her head, Ysirem walked down the hallway after Terezi, stopping in front of Karkat's door, quietly knocking on his door before entering and meeting gazes with a frozen in mid-pace Karkat. Starting before he could say anything, voice brief and almost business-like, she advised him with a sternness that vaguely reminded the Cancer of an old friend. "You will be accompanying Terezi in her investigation. Last time she was on her own, she was unable to procure anything. It's evident to anyone and everyone, honestly, that you two cooperate well with each other and work well as a team... for the most part. I suggest you address whatever is going on between the two of you, for both of your sakes. Goodnight." With that, she was gone as quickly as she had arrived, allowing the ex-threshecutioner no time to talk or respond and leaving him with just his thoughts for a while. There was a good deal of pacing and mulling over gross slurries of feelings he'd rather do without before he stopped in the middle of his block, hands dropping at his sides in exasperation. Letting out a weary sigh, he rubbed the back his neck before looking at his door, going over thoughts once more before adopting a determined expression and forcing himself out, striding across the hall to his companion's door, and knocking on it. "Terezi... ?"

GC: Having dragged herself over to her desk, she had laid her head atop it, burying her face in her arms. When she heard a knock accompanied by Karkat's voice, her voice cracked as she yelled for him to go away, her voice lacking ferocity and coming out as more of a choked sob. Her face was dry and she had felt so angry and annoyed earlier. What happened? She shouldn't have sounded like that. Quickly foregoing the thoughts that swirled in her head, she tunneled her face deeper into her arms, blocking out the world. She wasn't in the mood for whatever the hell he had to say, so he might as well leave. He'd already proven that he wasn't going to apologize, so what was the point? To chew her out for acting like a bratty child? She scoffed bitterly at the thought, recalling that he was being just as childish.

CG: Deciding that this tone was significantly worse than the bite of something more venomous, the Cancer huffed a quiet sigh and leaned against the door, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Look you miserable shitheap, there's things to be taken care of and nothing's going anywhere obviously if we... if we don't talk and get our acts together. Now, this could probably go way fucking easier if you opened the damn door. Of course, there's always broadcasting this whole goddamn conversation to the populace of this hallway and whoever is unfortunate enough to be a passerby around here or say, I'll just find my own way in there. It's up to you, Pyrope." His words, for all their bark held very little genuine snap to them, his tone weary and resigned almost. Arching an eyebrow, he rocked against the door a little, waiting for her response or even feet pattering to the doorway.

GC: She sighed, making her way to the door, her face defaulting to a cold expression. Don't let him see that you're hurt, she thought. Should she even open it for him? He could damn well let himself in... But that was an opportunity she was most definitely not going to give him. Opening the door with one hand, she brought her other to her hip, staring him down. "What? What is it that you could possibly want from me?" Her voice was dripping with bitterness - almost sarcastic - and her gaze never once left him, even as she narrowed her eyes threateningly. Threateningly. Right. She was too tired and worn out for anything to seem threatening at this point. Still, she stood her ground.

CG: Pushing himself away from the door, an exhale left him, partly relieved, still very tired. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose briefly before slinking his way inside, dropping his hand so he could drum restless fingers against the pant of his jeans as he thought, seeming to roll over one last thing in his head before he turned to face her in full again. "I'm... I'm sorry, alright?" He let out, throwing a haphazard hand up as he talked before dropping it by his side again. "I'm sorry for being a bulgetongued spongeclotted asshole of the highest caliber the other day and tonight and so on, so forth." He went on, grimacing from either memories or the bitterness of the present, him recognizing the wear in her cold shoulder.

GC: Her face softened almost immediately as she shut the door behind him. "I'm glad you finally apologized..." She pulled him into a quick, warm hug, relieved to finally have things go back to normal. Looking up at him, she pulled away, but not before grabbing the front of his shirt so he wouldn't be able to move as she brought the palm of her hand down across his face, letting the slap resonate throughout the block. "Don't you ever fucking pull something like that again, got it?" Sighing, she let go of him, massaging her temples with one hand as she mumbled under her breath, "You had me really worried..."

CG: The simplicity of how the apology, however difficult to finally get out of his protein chute, allowed the tension and drag to his form to fade away so quickly contributed to a particular shame growing in his chest, prickling and uncomfortable. Why didn't he just do this in the first goddamn place? It would have saved them a fuckton and a half of grief and, oh for god's sake, he was an idiot. Sighing, he was quick to return the embrace, keeping quiet, grateful that this whole ordeal was finally starting to settle- mother grub's fucking Matriorb on fire did that fucking _hurt!_ The Cancer, once again was cut reaction time, only able to process her pulling away, then swiftly grabbing the front of his shirt and a blur of grey near his face, followed by a sharp, stinging sensation. Momentarily stunned, he could only reach and lightly brush where she had hit him, biting back a wince, he decided to keep his hand by the side of his face, letting her withdraw before venturing to speak again. "Trust me... It's not something I wanted to happen in the first fucking place, definitely not going to aim for a second time. Shit, Terezi..." Just the slight hint of a grimace tugging at his features, he only rubbed at the sore spot once before jamming his hands back in his pockets, figuring he had well-deserved it. After a moment, he chanced looking back over to her, eyebrow raised slightly. "...You were worried? Why? It was just a stupid ass fight, courtesy of this rotten, thrice-damned mouth."

GC: She frowned, crossing her arms quickly and matter-of-factly. "Well sorry for having gotten used to you apologizing faster. You had me starting to feel guilty for something I didn't do and I was just..." She paused, gulping down the strange lump that had started to form in her throat, making it more difficult for her to speak. "I know it was stupid, but I thought that maybe things wouldn't go back to the way they were after a fight like this..." Letting her gaze drop followed by her arms falling to her sides, she felt almost lost for the first time in a long time. No, that wasn't the right word. She knew what to say and do. She felt weak. A sigh found its way from her mouth, only confirming the feeling that she hated so much. "I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry too..."

CG: Eyebrows perched in a perceivable amount of surprise, he took a moment to process the weight of the gesture and look it over, her form wilted and her voice having a rare sort of softness to it. His shoulders coming to sag slightly, a quiet sigh finally seeped out of his lungs, weary but passive. Stepping forward slowly, he brought her into a tentative hug, a slight awkwardness underlying it unlike the last one, though perhaps it was only because he was almost hesitant with this. He let her go partially before coaxing something resembling words out of his chute. "I'm just fine with the fact that that god awful mess is over with. I didn't mean to- well, to be honest you don't have much to apologize for. Most of the ugly asshurt is credited to me and my fucking pan, if not all of it... Really, so don't... Lets just leave it at that, alright?"

GC: She nodded and gave him a quick squeeze, smiling weakly as she pulled away. "Alright." Then turning to the door, she wasted no time in marching outside, only turning back to say, "Come on, we've got business to attend to that I apparently can't take care of on my own. I don't want to screw it up this time because I'm sure Ysirem won't give us another chance." And with that she left, making her way down the hall, her pride renewed.

CG: "Yeah, I'm really not sure why the hell she thinks my presence is going to improve your performance somehow." He muttered, padding his way out of her block, an ease settling in his form despite the roughness in his voice and the nearing interrogation. "Do you even know where the fuck their holding blocks even are or... ?" He inquired after a moment, coming to walk right up beside her, a part of him reveling in the welcomed return of the companionship between them, there no longer being any ice or venom inflicted upon their gestures, words, or even the air in between the two of them.

GC: She shrugged, replying, "No clue, but if we find Ysirem, I'm sure she'll take us to them." Her tone wasn't as business-like as she would have wanted it to be, but the gentleness in her voice would have to do for now. She was done with ignoring him, though putting her own feelings before her pride for once was a bit awkward for her. But it just felt good to speak normally to him, even if it did make her seem a tad sheepish. "Besides, we're perfectly capable of finding them on our own if needed, don't you think?"

CG: "Probably. Then again, it is down to asking for directions or following your cartilage nub, if we don't find her anyway." He pointed out, letting some humor further lighten the atmosphere, taking away what sluggish dregs remained from their fight and confrontation. "Who knows, we might find someone else to look about ready to spit at us and whisper behind our backs." Snorting a little under his breath, he followed her out into the main cavern, sounds of clanging and hissing from the nutritionblocks alerting them to lunch already being prepared.

GC: "My, my, what a find that would be. I don't recall ever having anyone do that to us before." Her tone dripped with playful sarcasm as she nudged him lightly, already having located Ysirem across the hall. She'd assumed that the brownblood would be there, waiting for them. Striding to the other side of the cavern, she greeted Ysirem with a brief smile before getting right down to business. "We're ready to go interrogate them if that's alright with you." Ysirem eyed them suspiciously, her curiosity about their argument evident on her face.

CG: Shifting a little under the taller troll's almost inquiring look, Karkat only offered a curt nod as reaffirmation to his companion's statement, moving things along with a chime-in of his own. "Yeah, if you'd direct us to wherever your containmentblocks are that'd be, uh, helpful..." His expression cinching briefly at the awkward line of words, he returned his attention to Ysirem, half-expecting to find narrowed earthy eyes. Instead, her brow only rose a little before she seemed to shrug, walking over to the hall opposing theirs, beckoning them to keep close with a wave of her hand. "Very well then, this way." Trailing behind her, there was a moment of silence before the brownblood commented, only sparing a second of a glance back at them as she did so. "I'm glad you two were able to settle whatever it was so quickly, the less conflict there is around here the better. That and it's best we get at least one of these men talking soon..." Genuine concern replaced what suspicion there was in her demeanor as she talked, the three trolls coming to approach an isolated section of the tunnel that sort of resembled the hall of respiteblocks they had come from, though there was a few guards patrolling up and down this place. The doors weren't as worn too, though they were covered in scuffs and scratches, probably from past skirmishes no doubt. "Firnen's the third on the left. The others are on the right, Kibirr's the second door and Goksor's the fifth."

GC: Pausing for a moment, Terezi narrowed her eyes at the brownblood, inquiring, "If you don't mind my asking, who do you have in the other holding blocks?" Ysirem was quick to respond, her voice becoming instantly icy. "That is none of your concern, legislacerator. I suggest you get your job over with." As Ysirem brushed past the other two trolls without another word, the tealblood glanced over at the taller troll next to her, a look of both concern and suspicion on her face. Then with a sigh, she muttered, "We might as well. Come on." During the time it took to walk down to the third door, Terezi composed herself, taking a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. If she wasn't able to get information out of them last time, she was sure this time wouldn't prove much easier. And with that she opened the door. "Long time no see, Firnen. That is, if I could see."

CG: Pursing his mouth, the mutant shot a glance at the other holding blocks, brow raised before he forced his attention back to the matter at hand, trailing in behind Terezi and shutting the door behind them. The block was relatively small, consisting of just the basic necessities of a hygieneblock, positioned off to the side of a table accompanied by three chairs set in the room. Firnen sat in the one chair on the farthest side of the table, his hands bound tightly together with a pair of rather uncomfortable looking old, iron shackles. "Ah, lass, was wonderin' when you'd drop-by. I was startin' to wonder if you really got all that discouraged. Still wonderin' actually... you don't look none too good. Tired, dare I say. Is that why you kept your boy with you this time?" The greenblood offered a toothy smile, his arms settled over the desk comfortably like he was just sitting down for some lunch with a friend. "By all means, have yourselves a seat."

GC: She grinned as she took a seat, motioning for Karkat to do the same. "What can I say? You've managed to run me ragged. You should be proud. Just try not to let it get to your head like last time." Leaning back in her seat, she continued, "As for 'my boy' here, his presence is only neccessary to make sure I don't get too..." Chancing a glance at Karkat, her voice was light and airy when she looked back to Firnen, finishing, "Violent." Firnen raised his eyebrows, settling back in his seat. "Well it'd be a tragedy if ya got as violent as last time," he replied, smirking as he watched her smile fade by just a fraction of an inch. "Watch yourself, greenblood. Didn't anyone ever teach you when to hold your tongue? Now, what I'd like to know is what you and your goons were up to." Firnen leaned forward across the desk, his smirk never fading. "Sorry lass, can't say. I've been told to hold my tongue."

CG: "Yeah, and she's telling you to loosen that maggot-run excuse of a proteinflapper you have. Right now, while you're in chains in a holding block, might I add," The Cancer countered, leaning forward just a little in his seat and crossing his arms tightly against his chest. Arching an eyebrow, the greenblood didn't back down just yet, observing Karkat for a moment before replying, a smooth, cold tone to his voice. "I thought you were just her pilechum, someone to keep her in check, lad. Maybe it's better that way too. You're about as convincin' as her, even less so actually. Mind your own tongue, boy." A sigh escaping his restrained frame, Firnen redirected his attention back to Terezi. "Unless you have any new tricks, legislacerator, I don't even know why you're here. You had roughly a full session last time and if memory serves, you managed to get nothin' from me or any a my associates. If he's here to _restrain_ you then... well, this really is a waste of everyone's time, isn't it? Not to mention an embarrassment..."

GC: "An embarrassment? Good. It means you don't know my tricks as well as you might think." Narrowing her eyes, the sound of scraping metal resonated in the block for only a split second before Terezi's cane was at the greenblood's throat. "I wouldn't move if I were you. We wouldn't want an accident, now would we?" Her voice sickly sweet, Terezi applied a bit of pressure to his neck, drawing a droplet of blood as demonstration. "You know what I want from you. You might as well give it to me or else we might find ourselves with a bloody-" She was cut off by a loud boom, followed by a reverberation that shook the ground unforgivingly. Her eyes widening she turned to Karkat, unsure what was going on. Firnen took his chance, saying, "What? Is the mighty legislacerator afraid of a little shaking?" When he received no response, he masked his own apprehension by continuing, "Oh, I see! He isn't here to restrain ya. You two have somethin' goin' on, don't ya?"

CG: Before Karkat could even start to formulate a proper response, either to Terezi or Firnen's presumption, there was another quake and Ysirem had swung the door open, a fine dust already rising behind her. "They're here." She swallowed hard, managing to look pale in the dim light of the tunnel. Straightening up she let her hand slide away from the door, falling to her side as she stepped forward a little, a grim set in her composure and perhaps... something else? "We're being broken into. The lot of you need to get out with the others." Something rumbled above them, causing what lights were lit to flicker ominously. "...Now." She finished, after a pause, her tone definite and unrelenting. His form already tense, Karkat was thankful he had grabbed his sickle beforehand, his hand already going toward the handle at his waist. Glancing over at Terezi and finding her with her sword still to the greenblood's throat, he jerked his head toward the door. "Come on, you heard her. We have to move our asses out of here."

GC: Her voice firm, she looked back to Firnen, ordering, “You have exactly three seconds to start talking before I run both your legs through and leave you here to die.” The greenblood, losing his composure, sighed and replied nervously, “There’s a bounty on all three a ya. Couldn’t pass it up, now could I?” Her face contorting into an expression of disgust, Terezi was quick to slice the flesh of one of his legs, leaving him to scream in agony as she turned to go. Grabbing Karkat’s wrist, she moved hastily out the door, following an already running Ysirem. “If we leave, won’t they see us?” Ysirem shook her head, leading them away from the growing commotion. “There’s another exit that leads to the woods. As soon as you get out, run. They won’t hurt me unless they’ve any reason to. That’s what they told me before.” Ysirem spoke hurriedly and Terezi only furrowed her brow, knowing the government much, much better than that.

CG: "Before?" There was a click in his pan and suddenly Karkat had a much clearer idea of what happened on the surface above them, the catastrophe that left a whole development in ruins save for a few still-standing hives in the back. Ignoring his question, the brownblood lead them down the opposite hall, taking a left, then a right, leading into what appeared to be a storage room. However, she quickly strode up to a pile of boxes, moving them aside and pressing an unseen button. An unlocking noise following soon after. With a push, the wall became a door, opening up to a yawning darkness. "Head down this way, this will lead up to the woods eventually. Take care and good luck you two." Before she could usher them inside, Karkat held back, turning to look at her. "Wait, why are you doing this? I mean, why aren't you directing any of your people this way too?" A strange expression crossed the brownblood's face. Regret? Suspicion? Anger, maybe? No... Not quite. Pursing her mouth, she seemed to consider something before continuing. "I am directing my people. We already have an escape plan organized, this was more of a passage for supplies. You two are being hunted _in particular_... with me. They'll be looking for you specifically. So, get moving."

GC: Not giving Karkat any time to respond, she solemnly nodded her thanks to the brownblood, tugging her companion down the dark passage. She could taste the absence of light - thick and heavy on her tongue - as Ysirem shut the passage door behind them without another word. And just like that, the two runaways were on their own again, fleeing like desperate squeakbeasts from the ever-growing explosions. Her hand had found it's way into Karkat's at some point and she dared not let go, fearing she would lose him in the dark tunnel. The ground beneath them, soon veered into an upward direction and the two trolls began their ascent in silence, the booming of explosives gradually getting louder as they neared the surface.

CG: Karkat's mouth felt like it was coated on cotton, the jarring transition of their situation and their escape setting something heavy in his chest, a solid cold feeling helping him in keeping on his feet, but restraining his tongue save for a few spare necessary words. Choosing to distract himself with returning her grip, just as steadfast, he followed her up the passage, trying to discern the direction the explosions were coming from, the direction they needed to runaway from. As they came to a plate, it became apparent the cacophony of firepower originated from behind them, toward the left. Taking a breath, Karkat squeezed Terezi's hand once before setting to work, pushing and shoving at the plate above them until finally it gave way with a small shower of dirt.

GC: Using one hand to shield her face from the falling dirt, she helped him push the heavy plate aside, filling the passage with dim moonlight. Turning to face him, she swallowed thickly and whispered, "Ladies first," nudging him as if to boost him through the opening. Yet, in the midst of their grim situation, any humor that could have laced her tone was long gone. Her thoughts were focused only on getting the both of them out of this mess alive.

CG: He didn't even bother with a roll of his eyes or the barest shake of his head. Casting a glance around first, he set his hands around the rim of the opening, eventually managing to clamber and haul himself out. Once he had gotten to his feet, he turned back to look down at her, offering his hand so he could pull her up. "Alright, come on up and-" He never finished, a loud "thump" sound punctuating his sentence, followed by a stumble on his part and a horrible, choked sort of gasp. It was much too fast when it happened, but there was no mistaking the arrow sticking cleanly out of his right side, dangerously close to where his heart would be.


	14. Intermission I, i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which more escaping occurs and an old friend visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i sorta played on the fact that terezi would be afraid of thunder because, even though she can smell and taste colors, thunder is still loud and scary and comes from every direction and, surprise surprise, she has no way of "seeing" it
> 
> (also if you catch any... references to certain things - im still not sorry about them)

GC: "Karkat? Karkat what happened?" Her voice only above a hoarse whisper, she pulled herself out of the hole with a grunt. Only a moment passed as she examined the bright cherry fluid leaking from her companion's chest before another arrow sailed over their heads. "Shit, come on, we've gotta go. Brace yourself." Scrambling forward, she pulled the arrow out of his flesh without much warning, scooping her companion into her arms in the same motion.

CG: The trickle of mutated blood that had leaked from the puncture became a steady stream as the arrow was removed, tearing tissue as well as a ragged breath from his throat, pain composing a terrible melody in his voice, making it pitch and lower in crimson-tinged waves. Only able to process a few selects thoughts and the fact his feet were no longer on the ground, the jarring sensation of being carried by his rushing companion keeping him conscious at the very least. "T-Terezi..." He managed to rasp out. "Y'need to.. to put me down. M'blood..." The coherency of his thoughts was decaying, becoming something jumbled and broken up by the time he'd force them out. He was slowing her down, making it too easy to track them- her. He... he had been shot? Pain, white-hot, relentless pain, continued to interfere with his pan, disorienting it with the increasing blood loss.

GC: Moving her hand to cover his wound, she slowed the blood flowing thickly against her fingers. If she could run fast enough, maybe she could find somewhere to hide out and the trail of red wouldn't be so thick. Karkat was heavy in her arms, but she refused to listen to him, instead shushing him as best she could. She had already made good progress into the forest and the shouts of their pursuers grew farther and farther away as she navigated the underbrush with the expertise one could only learn from years of living in a forest. Doing her best to ignore the pained sounds flowing from her companion's lips, the Libra listened close to the sounds about her, sniffing out a path ahead of her. This wasn't the first time she was being hunted by something in the forest. The only difference now was that that "something" was intelligent. After running a while longer, she felt her pace beginning to slow, adrenaline no longer able to keep her going. Still, she pressed on, the sound of her bloodpusher pumping, reminding her that she was alive and would have to keep running to stay that way.

CG: Eventually the sounds of conflict fell gravely silent behind them as they delved deeper into the woods, the explosions coming to mere rumbles in the distance and then nothing, the shouts of trolls, the hunters and hunted alike had long since faded beforehand. Now the only sound came from the forest, the ex-legislacerator's worn breathing, and her companion's pain that bubbled up from his chest in a cacophony of misery. There was a time he had tried to suppress it, his hisses and grunts sounding much too loud to him, too open. However that time had since passed, his reserve quickly used up. Instead, after some time, quiet reached him in a different manner, pain and disorientation creating a strange sort of lull. Even the thump of his companion's steps that translated into a shake to his form started failing in keeping him awake, his mind starting to drift in between a shallow, dark unconsciousness and a blurry awake state now and then.

GC: Finally determining that the two of them were safe for the time being, she slowed. The Libra, just coming to notice the hilly area around her, dragged herself under an overhang and laid down her companion as gently as she could. Then, she knelt beside him, silently and delicately examining his wound. She carefully removed his shirt, ripping it into long bands that would have to serve as temporary bandages. Thankfully, the cherry liquid bleeding though was concealed by the dark fabric, changing its hue to something indiscernible. And this was how she worked: leaning over the troll before her, never once stopping to rest. When she has finished bandaging him, she stood, examining the immediate area for something that could help. Growing up in the forest had left her with a basic knowledge of underbrush fauna as well as an understanding of what could and could not be used to treat a wound.

CG: If he had anything left to say, it was lost in between clenched teeth and harsh breathing he struggled to regulate. Only the barest of sensations were clear to him, everything else submerged in a smothering couple of inches of pain. He was dimly aware of her bloodied hands working over him, carefully tugging off his vest followed by his shirt, a ripping sound being following by pressure on his wound. Though her fading steps were lost to him, he forced his eyes open once more, blinking blearily as he glanced over at her, watching her make her way through the brush that surrounded the mouth of the... cave? When did they reach a cave? A half-formed thought of how long did she even run and how fast could she even have run to outpace their pursuers flickered in his mind before being over-washed by a wave of pain. Relaxing back against the rock, he forced out a sigh, placing his hand over the soaked strips of cloth at his wound and pressing on it to keep himself awake as well as help stall the blood flow.

GC: She wasn't gone very long, returning hastily with a few willow leaves that she was sure could alleviate his pain. Kneeling beside him she spoke gently, "You're doing a good job with holding off the bleeding. I've got something that can help, but you're going to have to chew it really well or else it won't work and you it's not a good idea to swallow it. Fair warning, it'll probably be pretty bitter." Carefully pressing one of the leaves to his lips, she urged him to eat it. Moving his hands away from his wound, she took over, applying enough pressure to slow the blood. "You'll be alright. I promise." Offering him a weak smile, she sighed as she tended to him, hoping that she was right.

CG: Forcing himself to thoroughly chew up the leaf and refrain from either swallowing too quickly or just spitting it right out, Karkat found that the plant matter at the very least managed to be easier to down as opposed to him swallowing his pride. As he had been punctured by an arrow, there were other parts of him that sustained a bit of damage. While the ex-threshecutioner was no stranger to treating injuries, being either the patient or the caretaker, there was still a creeping sense of discomfort that didn't stem from torn tissue and instead prickled his skin. A particular sharp jab of pain allowed those kind of thoughts to subside for the time being though, the grimness of the situation weighing on the air heavily. Swallowing, he coughed, a somewhat ragged sound, though it was probably just from the taste of the leaf. "Pretty bitter, you said?" He started, refusing to let a goddamn stick in his side diminish him so easily. "Bit of a fucking understatement, more like." Sighing, he let his hand cover one of hers that was still being held to the wound. "A-and don't sound so surprised. Head of the most lethal unit on Alternia, don't you think I've learned how to fucking stop some bleeding?" There was just the slight curl of humor at the end of his sentence, but it was soon overwhelmed by another coughing fit that sounded rougher than the last. When he was done and had settled back down, there were small flecks of candy red this time left behind.

GC: "As good as you are at stopping bloodflow, you haven't quite learned when to stop your mouth, Mr. Vantas." The corners of her lips twitched up in a weak smile, one of her hands brushing his hair away from his face as her voice took on a much gentler tone. "Just relax, okay? Let me do the talking for now." She carefully brushed a few droplets of blood away from his mouth with her thumb, her actions tender, yet shaky. It wasn't hard to tell that she was afraid for both his life and hers, wondering just how much time they had until they'd have to get moving again. She sighed with a shake of her head, trying to clear her thoughts and focus on the task at hand: fixing up the troll before her. Once she was sure that his bleeding stopped, she would have to get him some new sort of bandages, the threat of infection looming overhead.

CG: The quake of her hand against his mouth wasn't lost to him, a reminder that brought enough somberness back to surface in his mind to allow him to quiet, a rattle of a sigh escaping his chest as he settled against the rock once more with a mutter somewhere along the lines of "A fucking stick, really..." Whatever tension there was left, he forced away, deciding to preoccupy himself with trying to get an idea of where in hell they could be. Studying the inside of the cave that he could see and the foliage that lay outside, he couldn't come up with anything more than "deep in the woods", not remembering anything about this general area having hills. A half-hearted frown tugging at the line of his mouth, he kept his silence as she worked over him, keeping his gaze set on the mouth of the cave. After a decent amount of time had passed, he spoke again, his voice quieter than before but perhaps a little stronger, the pain becoming just slightly less stinging. "You outran them, do you know how far we are ahead? ... Actually, never mind that. Doesn't matter." Inhaling sharply, he eased out the breath as easily as he could without causing another hacking fit. "You shouldn't stay here too long, there's not much distance between us."

GC: She snorted, raising an eyebrow at him. "You should really give me some more credit. We'll need to get going, but not just yet. You need to rest for a while and once I'm sure you've stopped bleeding, I'll make sure our tracks are covered. You're in no condition to be going anywhere anytime soon." Heaving a sigh, she finally pulled away from him, examining the blood on her hands. After a moment of quiet, a small grin tugged at her features. "I've always wanted to know what you tasted like, but I never pictured it like this." However, her smile soon turned sour with the realization that now was no time to even try to act so facetiously. Bringing herself to stand rather awkwardly, she muttered a quiet "don't do anything stupid" and strode out of the cave, making sure to drape some vines over the entrance to at least cover it up. Knowing she'd have to work quickly, she searched the area around her, relieved to find that a stream wasn't too far off. Ignoring the water's gurgling, she set about finding plant matter that could serve as decent bandaging for the time being. She'd have to clean whatever rags she tore for him later when she was sure they were safe. Gathering up handfuls of leaves, she also collected a few stray branches, figuring they'd need firewood. It wasn't long before she returned to the cave, silently assessing what condition her companion was in.

CG: He didn't by any means doubt her so much as he figured even if they were careful, their pursuers would comb through the area just as they had the abandoned neighborhood and unfortunately, their place of refuge wasn't as well-hidden as before. Even so, he didn't argue, lacking the energy to and frankly not wanting to start something, all considered. Watching her, he arched an eyebrow slightly as she grinned at the blood on her hands, a weak flush managing to color his cheeks a little, no doubt born from embarrassment or something else. Before he could tell her not to fucking lick the bright red fluid, her expression dropped and she had left. He narrowed his eyes at her disappearing form before sighing and going back to putting pressure on the wound. A nonsensical helplessness creeping back up on him, he was more or less relieved when she returned, giving himself something else to preoccupy his mind with. "For the record, I wasn't doubting you, you know. But it's better to overestimate our old associates as opposed to underestimating them and getting ourselves fucking six feet under," he managed quietly, as she examined him. "... Especially now that they know, actually..." He added after a moment, thoughts flicking briefly back to the tell-tale blood trail, however small it was. One drop was all that needed to be seen, after all.

GC: She hushed him quietly, urging him to forget all his worries for the time being. The worst thing he could do was get himself worked up, especially in a condition as critical as his. "Nothing's going to happen to you. Not while I'm around, got it? So they can take whatever they've discerned about your blood color and shove it up their asses for all I care." Turning away from him, she let out a resigned sigh, murmuring, "For now, just focus on getting better as quickly as you can. As much as I'd like to, I can't keep carrying you around for the rest of my lifespan." Conceal, don't feel, don't let him know. He couldn't know just how worried she was. Not when his very survival depended on him getting enough rest to pull through.

CG: Pursing his mouth, he restrained from trying to sit up, simmering where he lay instead. He refocused on keeping his breathing even, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Letting a stale silence settle itself between them, he broke it just one more time for the night. "That's it, though. It's not me I'm really thinking about, to be honest." A weary sigh following his soft-spoken, though, rough words, he glanced over at her, a hint of concern breaking through the mask of pale pain and discomfort. Dropping his gaze, he let his attention linger on the blood-soaked rags covering his wound before his eyes drooped shut again despite his will to keep awake, his breathing slowing down to a safe rate.

GC: Her shoulders slumping in defeat, she turned back to him, quietly working on changing his bandages with delicate fingers. How could she just leave him here and save herself? She knew he wanted her to do that, but she would refuse until the very end as long as it meant keeping him safe. Her cherry boy from so long ago had spent all those sweeps hiding his blood color and growing into a man. Of course she wasn't just going to let him throw it away. After finishing with his bandages, she collected the rags, pressing a quick, almost lusus-like kiss to his forehead before leaving the cave to wash them out.

TG: When she'd return, the ex-legislacerator would encounter a sickeningly familiar scent, a curious mix of greasy face paint and sour, sticky grape soda, someone else taking her place at the mutant's side in her absence. Not quite his predecessor's height yet, he was still tall as he was lackadaisically lanky. Hunched over the mutant's form slightly, the figure didn't seem to care when the other would return, a peculiar look in his purple eyes as he examined the troll he shared the palest of diamonds with, or at least he did at one point or another. His arms were limp at his sides, long fingers still curled around the handles of his clubs that had come to crack upon many-a-skull, spilling sponge matter all around. Now though, now they would remain still, for the time being anyway.

GC: Upon entering the small cave, she came to a halt, her blind eyes widening. She curled her hands into fists, taking a few angered steps toward him, hissing under her breath, "If you so much as fucking touch him, I'll make sure it's your blood coating these walls when we leave." Twitching, she pulled out her cane, aiming it at his neck while keeping herself at a safe distance. If he was here, it meant their pursuers weren't far behind. They had to get out. Now. "I don't give a damn _what_ the two of you had, whether it be a moirallegiance or a fucking kismesisitude." 

TG: Eyebrows raising lazily, the subjugglator didn't take notice of the immediate danger pointed toward his protein chute, instead his eyes were still set on the troll sleeping beside them. Eventually though, he flicked his attention toward her, not even raising a hand to redirect the blade. Instead, he took a dragging step toward her, and then another, doing as she wished but pushing her away from Karkat as well."Your squawkblister hasn't changed, not a motherfucking bit, sister. You're still spewing the worst kind of ironies, the kind I can only really get my appreciation on for when you're _dead as a doornail_. Though... I've got to admit, this is much worse than anything you've ever motherfucking said back in those days and nights, nights and days." Keeping his voice from fluctuating if only for Karkat's sake, he inspected the tealblood before him coldly. "You're a higher kind of selfish girl, I hope you up and know that."

GC: Backing up with every step he took toward her, she narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? And where have you been all these years? It was his choice to get me out of that hellhole dungeon alive. Now I'm returning the favor, so you can tell your fucked up clownass squadron that you lost our trail, got it? He needs serious medical attention and I can't provide it for him unless I've guarrenteed that he's safe." Pausing, she swallowed heavily before hissing, "If you care about him and your relationship with him means anything at all to you, let us go." She could feel her voice beginning to falter, but for both their sakes, she had to get the grapeblooded troll away.

TG: Eyes flashing dangerously for a moment, he continued forward until he had her against the cave wall. He eyed the blade between them briefly before placing his hand over the flat of it and pushing the sword downward, away from his person. "You're asking for a heresy that isn't mine to motherfucking commit, baby girl. Besides, what makes that ol' pan of yours think I actually give half a shit? You made it clear as glass just now, I been gone away from our boy for some time. Sure, I got my reminiscence all out back there, but that don't mean I'm _you_ sister. Nothing spent, not a thing owed. I wouldn't expect him to let _me_ motherfucking renounce for his sake." He paused, as if something occurred to him suddenly, temporarily swaying a creeping decision, completely reformatting the situation and his choice. Letting his form sag again, he tilted his head at her a little. "Of course... He don't care jackshit about none of that. What I _would_ motherfucking expect from _him_ is to let me renounce for someone else he actually gives a fuck about. Oh, girl..." Leaning away from her a little, he looked her up and down, a strange expression crossing his face. Contempt? Jealousy, even? Disgust? A mix of everything? Whatever it was, it faded soon enough. "You're trouble."

GC: Her face contorting into an ugly mix of anger and loathing, she practically spat, "At least I've got brains enough to keep those who I care about safe even if it costs me my life." Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she spoke flatly, not wanting her emotions to show. "Why are you here? I don't smell any of your goons around and you haven't so much as lain a finger on either of us. What do you want?"

TG: Purple eyes narrowing at her, he took a half of a step back, turning his attention away from her and onto the mutant that lay deeper in the cave. Whether this was his answer or just lost of interest in her was undetermined, but he hadn't answered her question when he spoke again. "Safe," he echoed instead, letting his arms become limp at his sides again, clubs hanging from his hands. "Tell me, sister, just go and take a motherfucking whiff if you haven't just yet. Tell me, even with those damaged gander bulbs of yours. Does he motherfucking look 'safe' to you?" Looking back, he rounded on her again, stepping forward once more. "Whether you got a dredge of motherfucking sponge matter between those accursed clots of yours don't matter. You can put a thousand you's on the motherfucking line, still wouldn't do _shit_ for him. That's your problem, Pyrope. You got it all wrong in your pan, like your schoolfeeding was lower than motherfucking second-rate and lower fucking still." As he finished, he passed the handle of one of the clubs into the other hand so one was free, reaching up with a dangerous slowness to press finger tips to the side of her face. Then, he came to fold his hand under her chin, pressing his palm up against her and gripping her lower jaw with a seemingly passive hold. Staring at her with a quiet intent, he turned her head toward Karkat's direction. "I want you to rethink that motherfucking wordslurry you spewed and everything you ever let out of your mouth."

GC: He was right. The only thought in her head was that he was right. As much as she wanted to, she could never keep him safe, let alone both of them. Still, as she felt the purpleblood take hold of her face, fury like she'd never felt before bubbled up in her chest, threatening to spill from her chitinous windhole with little warning and it was all she could do to restrain herself. Her voice cool and icy, she said three simple words: "Fuck off, Gamzee." It was all she needed to say and she let it hang in the air, emphasis on using the purpleblood's name for the first time in a very long time. She jerked her head away from his hand but remained still against the wall, the thought of moving again too dangerous for her liking.v

TG: Seemingly satisfied for the time being, the subjugglator let his hand drop again and took hold of the other club, stepping away from her. Turning his back toward her, he walked back to Karkat, confident that she wouldn't really do anything, especially when he was so close to the mutantblood. He leaned down beside the troll, the peculiar expression from earlier returning somewhat as he placed one of his clubs by his body in favor of lightly placing one skeletal hand on top of Karkat's. Letting a moment pass before abruptly standing up once more, he picked up his club again and started toward the entrance before pausing one last time. "I'll do what I can, but keep in mind the miracles aren't mine to motherfucking work, baby girl. I don't recommend you two get your comfort on here for too long." Finally glancing back to her, there was a shade of conflict in his demeanor, loyal pale diamonds warring against greasy face paint and a bloody disposition older than the three of them. He readjusted his grip on his clubs before disappearing from the cave in but a second, not a trace of his presence left except for perhaps a lingering sourness in the air.

GC: Letting out her breath all at once, she hurried toward Karkat, needlessly checking if the clown had done anything to him, which he hadn't. Sighing, she couldn't help but feel grateful, even if it was only for an instant. Carefully laying a hand on her sleeping companion's shoulder, she murmured, "Karkat, get up. We have to get out of here." Despite her quiet tone, her voice was urgent as she stood, examining the cave. The scraps of his clothing that had served as his bandages now hung from her tight grasp, clean and ready for the next time he would need them. Hoping that he'd heard her wake up call, she stuffed all but one of the rags in her pocket, rushing out of the cave using the remaining one to hold at least some water from the stream. Who knew the next time they'd even have access to water? She sure as hell didn't. Reaching the cave as quickly as she had left it, she barely turned to the figure on the ground, asking briskly, "Can you sit up?"

CG: Eyes blinking awake weakly, her tone was enough for him to push past the weariness a short and uneasy sleep had left him with. Instinctively reaching for the sickle at his waist, he managed to pull it out before holding back a sigh and flicking his attention to the front of the cave, trying to get a grasp of the situation. As far as he could tell nothing had happened, yet anyway. Perhaps she heard or smelled something? Whatever it was, it had her on edge and that was good enough. Watching her enter the cave again, he grit his teeth a little, supporting himself on his arm as he slowly worked himself up into a sitting position. Carefully tugging on his vest, a cold flash shooting through him for a minute, he forced himself onto his own two feet, albeit a bit unsteadily, beads of sweat not helping the chill in his skin. He took to leaning on the cave wall, one hand loosely gripping the handle of his sickle and the other lightly pressing against his wound. "How close?" He managed out, fixing his gaze on the entrance to the cave and pushing away the urge to lay back down again, keeping himself up with a thin mix of adrenaline, instinct, and paranoia.

GC: "Alright, alright, let's not push ourselves here." She moved to support him, hooking her arms around him and urging him to lean on her. "We're not in any immediate danger, but if we don't get going soon, we will be. There's a slowmoving stream nearby and I was thinking we'd walk through it for a while before crossing it to erase our scents. Think you can manage that? Oh, and don't give me that bullshit where you push yourself and end up making your condition ten times worse." She sighed, taking her time in helping him towards the front of the cave, making sure he didn't fall from her grasp.

CG: "I don't think walking a little faster would be all that disastrous, at least, it'd be more manageable than them fucking catching up with us." Placing an arm across her shoulders, he allowed her to lead him out of the cave, hooking his sickle back on his waist. Once they were outside he glanced around, keeping his senses out for anything alluding to another person or beast nearby as she guided them to the stream. Even with all his talk, he didn't overexert himself, knowing it really wouldn't do any good for him to push himself now only to drastically slow them down later. "Did you hear anything or whatever when I was asleep or...?"

GC: She hesitated before responding, "A blind girl's got to have her own tricks, right?" Smiling quickly at him, she helped him into the water, making sure he didn't slip on the wet rocks by tightening her hold on him just slightly. "We'd better get out of here quickly though, I'm not sure how reliable my 'tricks' are." Sighing, she inspected him hurriedly to make sure if he was doing alright.

CG: "Right... And it's much easier to just not answer my question for some reason. Even though the matter's k-kind of fucking serious, survival and all." Her peculiar way of responding didn't quite escape him, however pained he was at the moment. Pursing his mouth, he only grit his teeth, figuring it was better to inquire about it at a later time when they were at the very least relatively safer than they are now. He suppressed a shiver and trudged forward instead, ignoring the burning ache in his chest as he kept his senses out for anything that would indicate someone being nearby.

GC: Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Quiet you. Just focus on walking for now, alright?" Keeping a firm hold of him, she helped him through the clear water for a while in silence before finally deeming it safe to get out. Anchoring one foot on the bank, she lifted him as gently as she could out of the water, making sure he had firm footing on land before following after him, her arms never slipping from around him. "You still okay?" She spoke much more quietly now, fearing that if their pursuers had caught up, everything could be heard from just down the stream.

CG: His breath, however restrained on his part, sounded much too loud and ragged to him still. Swallowing, he established his footing on solid ground before carrying on with an unceremonious grunt. "Yeah, I'm alright," he muttered. "Feels like I've swapped my feet for fucking chilled grub gelatin, but yeah, I'll live." Straightening up, he sighed, readjusting his grip on her shoulder before forcing his feet forward again. "Any idea to what time it is? We need to find cover before the sun's up and we're fucking deep-fried." He paused to look around where they were, having since moved upstream the trees were a little sparser here then down below.

GC: "I think we've got a few hours until dawn, so we'd better hurry our asses up." Then, glancing over at him, she couldn't help but smirk. "Tell me if you get too tired to walk. Maybe you can swallow your pride and I'll carry you the rest of the way. How does that sound?" Laughing under her breath, she trudged forward, keeping her pace slow and steady enough for him to be somewhat comfortable.

CG: Taking a moment to formulate his response, he settled on merely scowling and pushing forwards. Casting a sideways glance at her he finally muttered, "I don't know, dangerous maybe? Don't think I would let you carry me because of the fact that you look like you could fucking drop right where you are and be sleep comfortably enough like you were back in a goddamn recuperacoon." He paused again before adding on, a touch of concern breaking through the tension in his voice. "How are you holding up anyway?"

GC: Sighing, she pursed her lips for a moment before replying. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you right now. You gave me one hell of a scare..." Her shoulders slumped, but she pushed on, shifting to give the troll beside her better support. Deciding to lighten the mood a little, she reminded him, "Besides, I carried you all the way to that cave, remember? Or... were your thoughts too clouded to notice." She spoke the last bit quietly, sounding both unsure and concerned. Mentally shaking herself, she told herself now was not the time to get all soft.

CG: Watching her carefully, his expression softened somewhat as she talked, being reminded of exactly what kind of fight she was putting up now. "I remember enough to know that another run like that wouldn't be too good for you probably." Giving her another careful once-over before moving on, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze, following her as she walked him through the trees. "Does... any of this remind you of your forest or... ?" He started, posing the question as another way to lighten the air and keep both of their thoughts occupied, as opposed to drifting to grimmer tangents.

GC: "Enough for me to at least know what I'm doing," she responded gruffly, instinctively sniffing at the air to prove her point. And a good thing that she did. Not a single highblood scent caught her nose, instead, the smell of a blackness like licorice wafting towards her. Some kind of hole? She couldn't quite tell. It was too far away still. All she knew was that it was dark, and seemingly well hidden. "Come on, I think there's a good place to rest up ahead."

CG: A quiet sigh leaving him, he followed her lead, ignoring the weariness making his bones reluctant to click and move and the sweat that chilled his back. As they walked, eventually the land sloped back up a little before a hardened spine rose in the form of the face of a hill. The underbrush had become sparser here, though the trees remained relatively thick. Coming to walk along the hill, it was some time before there was a small crack in its surface, surrounded by moss. Upon closer inspection, it could be surmised that the two of them could probably squeeze their way past the narrow passage, hopefully into a larger cavern.

GC: Taking a deep breath as she examined the crack, she muttered, "Maybe I should go in first so you don't strain yourself..." Not giving him time for a response, she set him down near the base of the hill, careful not to touch his wound. "I'll only be a second. If it's habitable, we can stay for a little." Standing, she faced the darkness, letting her hand be engulfed by it as she took her time edging between the rock. Hopefully there wasn't something ready to kill her on the other side.

CG: Only able to twist his body around so he could watch her work her way into the small opening, a protest having since died in his throat, too little, too late, as she had already slipped in. Scowling, he didn't quite stand yet, allowing himself to rest for a moment and keeping his focus trained on the narrow passage she had disappeared into. He knew she could take care of herself well enough, but his last experience with being the first to venture into something had left him with enough surplus anxiousness to be even more apprehensive. Granted, he didn't really expect anything along the lines of arrows or weaponry to be inside, but there definitely could be something more or just as lethal. Tensely waiting at his spot for her to return, he also occupied himself with keeping an ear out for their pursuers. Just in case. Beyond the thin space between the two walls of rock, there was a small yawning cavern, dank and strung with wisps of web. Fortunately, nothing bigger than a snake or lizard had made it's home here, insects and other inhabitants scurrying to the safety of their little niches as the troll made her way through to the other side.

GC: Upon discovering a small cavern on the other side of the rock, she peaked her head outside excitedly, whispering a quiet, "Come on!" before slipping out. Helping her companion stand, she went first, squeezing into the crack and helping him along. "There's enough room for both of us and if we're careful about it, we can cover up the front and stay here for a while!" Her voice was still at a whisper, but it was joyful for the first time in a while since they had run away. Finally tugging him past the small space, she eased him into the cave. "I think we've done more than enough running for today. Hopefully, we can stay here for a day or two."

CG: Letting his shoulders slump in relief, he was content enough to keep his silence for the time being, being more worn out by the night than his pride would ever like to allow him to admit. Once he was inside the cavern, he let his eyes adjust to the darker space before he moved forward, raising a hand to brush away stray webs that still stretched across the air. Wrinkling his nose, he eventually let his hand drop, taking to leaning on the rocky wall with a sigh, a note of weariness underlying it. "Hmm... If they track down where we were, it won't take a fucking doomsday device scientist to figure out we used the stream to get rid of our scents. However, they're not certain where we headed past the stream and this could be easy enough to hide so... yeah. As long as we're careful, we could probably hole up in here for good night or so." Pursing his mouth, he flicked his gaze back to the thin entrance, mulling over something. Despite the joy in her tone and their apparent luck, he was running a few scenarios in his head. One or two of them, naturally, keeping him from being too at ease even in the safety of their dark little cavern.

GC: "Just relax for a little bit, alright? We don't need you reopening that wound and, speaking of which, I should probably rebandage it." Sighing, she urged him to sit, pulling him down to to ground with her. Carefully peeling off the bloodied leaves, she cast them to the side for the moment before pulling out the water filled scrap she had made sure to take with her. "This might sting a bit, sorry," was all she mumbled before carefully dripping the water over his wound, trying to at least partially clean it out.

CG: "Sometimes I wonder just how much credit I actually have in your fucking book. Really, I've had wounds cleaned before, Terezi, I'm not a grub- mmmnrrg." Refusing to let the threatening wince make it farther than his chute, his words ended with him biting his tongue and a weird, sort of muffled, strained sound punctuating his sentence. Forcing himself to ease back against the uneven surface of the cavern wall, he hissed out a sigh, eventually quieting again. He flicked his eyes away from her, vouching to direct his attention from the floor to the entrance. Outside, the wind seemed to have picked up, a lonely howl sounding off beyond the stone surface. It wasn't long before it was undeniably pouring out, slips of wind and a spray of rain just barely making it past the narrow passage. Arching an eyebrow as lightning flashed, casting temporary light through the crack, Karkat reclined back fully, seeming to relax just a little more. "We timed that pretty fucking well..." He commented, a hint of humor accenting his voice. "This is good. That will cover us, tracks and all. Won't be able to tell where in hell we even went off to..."

GC: Nodding tensely, she hurried with her work, now carefully but hastily wrapping his wound with bandages. She barely even commented on his gasp of pain earlier, only managing out an understanding chuckle. Still, she'd fallen oddly silent, only nodding after he spoke. Rainstorms had always spooked her a bit more than she cared to admit, what with the clap of thunder booming from Dolorosa-knows-where? Sure, she knew it was irrational, but that didn't stop her from being irrationally afraid. Keeping a lid on her rising fear, she bit her lip, remaining quiet as she finished bandaging her companion. Setting herself against the wall not to far from his good side, she crossed her arms, determined to tough out the storm.

CG: Her peculiar silence slipping his weary attention initially, he spared a glance down at his bandaged wound, a near thoughtful expression crossing his features before he leaned his head back again, seeming to have put aside whatever tangents had rose in his pan. His breathing relatively relaxed as opposed to what it was before, he worked around the now dull jabs of pain that spiked in his chest now and then. Turning his head to his companion, a part of his calm was swapped for concern. Only then had it occurred to him she had fallen strangely quiet, an event that usually happened only under particular circumstances, more often than not unpleasant. Noting her demeanor, he worked up his voice again, venturing to pose what he hoped was an innocent enough question. "Hey, you alright?" He kept it simple, knowing how she could be, a part of his mind registering her conduct as... scared, almost, reclusive.

GC: Nodding silently, she barely looked over at him. While fear made its home inside her, her pride was still too great to simply be thrown aside. She refused to let a few simple crashes of thunder get the better of her and- SHIT. A loud boom resonated inside the small cavern, loud enough to make the tealblood practically jump as the heavens opened up released a deluge of water. Taking a moment to settle herself, she ground her teeth, trying to keep herself from doing anything as ridiculous as squeaking from fright. It was just an aspect of nature. It was just an aspect of nature. It was just an aspect of- _SHIT_. She jumped again, practically quivering as another crash emanated in the cramped space.

CG: An honest surprise dawned on him as it was quickly made apparent what the source of her restrained terror was, the idea that his often cutthroat accomplice was being scared by a storm, a fear that usually belonged to beasts or perhaps even grubhood, peculiar to say the very least to him. His surprise fading soon enough, he deliberated between just leaving her be or... well. Wondering whether his acknowledgment of her state and his decision to offer anything resembling comfort for such a seemingly small anxiety would make matters worse somehow or not, her just about shaking form eventually convinced him to tentatively scoot closer to her. Not wanting to smother her nor entirely leave her alone, he opted to rest his hand on top one of hers as he came to sit shoulder-to-shoulder by her, a safe enough gesture. Leaning his head back against the rock, he didn't quite close his eyes, fixing his gaze on the grey slurry of rain outside, just beyond the crack of the hill, all the while refraining from glancing at her too much.

GC: Glancing up at him just a tad confused at first, it wasn't long before the feeling dissipated, replaced with her fear again. Her hand tensing under his, she did her best not to jump again, suddenly embarrassed by her clear display of what anyone on Alternia would have taken advantage of: a weakness. Trying to even out her breathing, she pressed against him, biting her lip as chagrin caused her face to flush a light teal. She'd never been this, well, embarrassed to be near her companion and honestly, the thought bothered her a little. Or rather, it bothered her right up until she squeaked with fear, pressing closer to him.

CG: A weight of hesitation holding him back from acting on an impulse he was new to, he feared worsening this situation for her, though his thoughts were eased just slightly when she pressed to him. Still taking care with his movements, he withdrew his hand from hers, opting to reach behind her and draw her closer, resting his hand on her shoulder. He took to rubbing light circles into her shoulder with the pad of his thumb, setting aside lingering surprise in favor of something more sentimental, keeping his quiet all the while.

GC: Resting her head on his shoulder, she took a few deep breaths before murmuring a shaky, "I'm alright." Still, she didn't pull away from him, too afraid to deal with the issue on her own. Nuzzling into him, she was careful not to touch his wound as she settled herself next to him, doing her best not to jump every time the thunder crashed for fear of hurting him. Letting one of her arms wrap around his waist, she curled into him, facing away from the opening to the outside.

CG: He only offered her an unconvinced grunt before pressing his face into her hair, leaning down to nuzzle the top of her head in turn. While he could manage the pangs in his chest well enough, he settled his free hand over his wound, a reassurance that he was being careful with his injury; an easier to swallow dose of "you don't have to worry about me". Sighing, he moved his hand up from her shoulder, coming to cup the back of her head to stroke and thread through her hair soothingly.

GC: Sighing somewhat pleasantly in return, she gave him a weak smile as her quivering lessened. Now only giving a slight start at each crash outside, she had seemingly calmed down. "Hey Karkat?" She whispered the words, refusing to relinquish the spot on his shoulder where she'd gotten so comfortable. Taking a moment's pause, she continued with a grateful "thanks", doing her best to make her appreciation known to him as she pressed against his neck, ever mindful of her horns.

CG: Arching his eyebrows a little for a second, he seemed to resolve on resting his chin on the top of her head, still carding through her hair gently. He didn't offer much more than a simple, mumbled "It's fine", before going quiet again, the strain of the night's events evicting a decent amount of energy from him. However, for the time being he was content, having found some solace with his companion and in what safety there hideout had to offer as opposed to the looming dangers of the night.

GC: Letting out a quick puff of air, she rambled on, muttering, "You should probably get some rest. You've had a tough night. I'll keep watch, okay?" Her voice was gentle but firm, urging him to sleep. She could handle a little thunder on her own after all, right? He needed his rest. The two of them couldn't continue on like this unless his wound healed properly and he had enough sleep. Foregoing thoughts of her own tiredness, she kept still for him, hoping he would just fall asleep then and there.

CG: A creeping protest was halted by an abrupt series of coughs, him immediately withdrawing to cover his mouth with his hand, quickly wiping away a smear of metallic blood and saliva. When he finally forced his breathing back to a less irregular pace, he seemed to almost wilt in reluctant agreement, his form curved by exhaustion. Giving her hand a small, final squeeze, he moved to retreat to one of the cavern's sides, safely out of sight of the thin entrance, shrugging off his vest with a little difficulty and folding it to make a makeshift pillow, so his head was at least a little bit elevated. He then eased himself down into a lying down position, being mindful of his wound and taking care to stay on his back as opposed to curling on his side. Sparing a glance over to his companion, he pursed his mouth a little. The storm as far as he could tell had started to calm down slightly, the thunder and flashes of lightning becoming less frequent, the thunder reduced to low rumbling though the rain continued to pound outside. "Wake me up when it's my turn, I have a feeling I won't be sleeping like a fucking grub anyway." He paused before adding on, suspicion translating into a dry, crackling tone. "If you're still awake around sunrise, just... be careful. Make sure you're out of the way of any light."

GC: Laughing dryly, she muttered, "Believe me, I think I know that better than anyone." Glancing over to him, she smiled weakly before directing her attention back to the entrance. Her shoulders slumped, already missing the heat of having someone sit so close, but she stayed in her spot, listening quietly to the fading thunder and ever falling rain. "Let me know if you need someone to keep you company if you wake up because I'm sure you'll be sleeping exactly like a grub: Waking up to cry every other hour." Her voice was light and amused as she wrapped her arms around herself, snickering at her own little joke. Still, despite joking around, she was worried about him and wanted to keep him as comfortable as possible until his wound was fully healed.

CG: A mumbled "What experience could you have with grubs?" was the last thing to slip past his lips before he had managed to doze off, too tired to offer much more of an argument as his breathing came to a slow and his eyes drifted shut. His exhaustion finally overtaking him once more for the night, he found a relatively easier rest now that they had put some space between themselves and their pursuers. It also helped to know their tracks were well-covered, thanks to the storm outside, blowing and washing away their scent and tracks, giving their hunters a dose of difficulty in their search through the bracken and dirt. However... Every now and then he'd stir, either from a weak string of hacking or the nightmares that loomed on the edges of his exhaustion, showing tall, paint-faced figures dark with malicious intent and rainbow blood on their weapons, the majority of the colors familiar to him... Too familiar, bright, bright red accompanied by teal, yellow, purple, jade green...


	15. Intermission - I,ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE CHAPTER IN WHICH SHIT ACTUALLY HAPPENS OH MY GOD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS HAPPENING

GC: Looking over to him every now and then, she only sighed when he woke, frowning in concern. Without sopor, knowing him, he was sure to have all sorts of nightmares, but she didn't want to be the one to rouse him from whatever rest he was managing to get. She listened carefully to the sounds just outside the cavern, whatever wildlife living out there quieting as the sun rose. Shifting deeper into the cave to get out of the sunlight, it wasn't long before the distant calls of whatever lurked in the daylight started up, near silent as she felt herself drifting off. She shook her head to keep herself awake, dragging herself closer to Karkat as she curled around herself, refusing to let herself sleep as she kept watch.

CG: Starting to drift in and out of his uneasy sleeping state, there was a lasting, chopped up clips of a dream still keeping him anchored in unconsciousness. He could feel cuffs, tight on his wrists but not necessarily painful, just... secure. However, there was still a shot of panic. He couldn't move, his arms restrained in a... jacket of sorts, a sense of being trapped overwhelming him. By way of his mind's eye he could tell he was also chained to the surfaces of the room, unable to walk unless someone released him and though the room was... padded it seemed, strangely comfortable, he had a feeling the restraints were extra, to prevent him from so much as pacing angrily around the room... his cell. Waking up with a start, he knew sleep wasn't going to come to him again soon, his reluctance and his shaky rest jarring him. With a sigh, he let his eyes adjust to the light that leaked into the cavern, illuminating the dim walls slightly. Sighing, he shifted up into a sitting position, shrugging back on his vest and minding the pain that flared. He scooted over to Terezi, minding the light that pervaded the cave and nudged her lightly. "Hey, dozeass, go and get some fucking rest already," he muttered, just the slight hint of something softer in his gruff voice. "I'll take over from here."

GC: Grunting, she mumbled a sleepy sounding, "Go back to sleep," before succumbing to rest herself. She was exhausted and it didn't matter to her where she slept as long as she managed to get some shut eye. Folding her arms under her head, she lay on her stomach, hiding her face from the sunlight even though she couldn't really see it. She should have continued keeping watch to let him rest, but she was just too tired. Sleep found her swiftly and it was only a few moments before she sank into an unconscious state, half snoring into the pillow she'd made out of her arms.

CG: Snorting, he moved to sit himself up against the cavern's wall, resting his hands in his lap as he kept a watchful eye on the entrance, leaning his head back a little as he listened to the beasts of the day prowl around. To some degree he was relieved she was too exhausted to offer much of an argument, knowing she needed her rest just as well and not being too keen on going back to his nightmares either. The snippets he remembered made his skin crawl with uneasiness, dark figures of their pursuers with blood on their hands haunting him along with the peculiar pressure of cuffs on his hands. He supposed he had a nightmare about being captured, though he felt that the restraint were part of another dream entirely. How exactly? He wasn't sure. Shaking his head, he dismissed it, going back to keeping watch even as the day grew older and evening started coming back around.

GC: Her companion wasn't alone in suffering from nightmares and it wasn't long before she turned on her side to curl around herself, her brow furrowing. Sleeping without sopor brought back memories of having to hang in the dungeon for days without food and her dreams put her in worse shape than when she had been awake. Her body tensing up, she never woke, instead trapped in her nightmares, cold, hungry, and alone. As evening approached, her condition remained the same and it was only worry for her companion's well being that pulled her out of her groggy unconscious state.

CG: He found himself stuck in the very same position she had had taken up earlier, noting the tension in her form, her body reacting to the ghosts of memories, though he was unable to do much else but shift a little closer to her. He remained vigilant, but his mind darted to her more often than not, knowing she'd share in the nightmares soporless rest offered, and he couldn't do much upon the grounds of not desiring to wake or disturb her, despite her no doubt troubling visions, she did need rest as much as he did. When she'd finally stir, already a few hours deep into the night, he'd be relieved, if only for her sake. Nudging her gently, he withdrew his hand to rest it back in his lap. "Hey. It's dark out and nothing's passed by save for a few wingbeasts and rodents, if you want you can sleep for a little while longer."

GC: Taking a moment to sniff at the opening of the cave, she groaned, rubbing exhaustion from her eyes and scooting closer to him. "Don't think I really want to go back to sleep," she mumbled, mentally shaking herself awake. With a yawn she continued, "It's you're turn to sleep if you want to take a nap. You're going to need as much rest as you can get if you want your wound to heal properly." Giving him a quick once over, she checked that his bandages were in place and the bleeding had nearly stopped. It didn't take a genius to know that an arrow wound like that would leave a nasty scar and she couldn't help but think this whole ordeal was her fault.

CG: In truth, he probably would do well to take her up on her suggestion, his skin on the waxen side and lacking a shade or so, rendering him paler than usual, loss of blood and pain sapping his color from him. However, exhaustion no longer weighed down his limbs and eyelids as much and frankly, he was about as keen on going back to sleep as she was. Of course he knew he'd have to bare rest without the assistance of sopor again while they were on the run like this and in essence it wasn't exactly anything new, a nice, welcoming recuperacoon filled with slime wasn't always readily available during some of his missions, but then again, that was before he had had to break his best friend out of jail, before the both of them were put in a considerable amount of danger. Deeming it much too soon after his nightmares to sleep again, he just shook his head. "I'm fine. While we have the moonlight, we should probably scavenge. If we're going to keep ahead of those paste-faced lymphsuckers, we really shouldn't waste ourselves too much, lest they do catch up and we're about as useful as fucking pasta noodles." He moved to stand up slowly, holding a hand to his side as he got up onto his own two feet, leaning against the wall once he was upright, biting back a strained sigh.

GC: Staring blankly at him, she started, "You're an idiot if you think you have anywhere near what a sensible troll would call the 'capability to move around'. Sit your ass back down. I won't take long." Already on her feet, she began moving toward the front of the cave before turning back to him and continuing, "Don't try to follow me, alright? You're safe here for now. At this point, they'll want you dead more than me, so just... don't." Sighing she slipped out of the cavern, heading out to search for some source of food, her cane ready in her hand. Hopefully she wouldn't run into any musclebeasts along the way and she'd make it back with some fresh water and meat. It wasn't long before she'd found a few small creatures and pounced on them, striking them with her blade before they even knew what hit them. She then gathered up some leaves, tying them into a makeshift sac and swinging them over her shoulder. Making her way back to the cavern, she gathered some sticks good for firewood along the way.

CG: At first, he ignored her and remained upright, albeit not doing much more than lean stubbornly up against the cave wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Right and the part about them wanting you dead less so than me was supposed to be the fucking comfort in that, yeah? Mhmm, that's.... that's really reassuring." Pursing his mouth, he still didn't venture to do anything more than mutter and remain in his spot, a bit of reason poking through the layer of helpless irritation. He knew very well it had barely been a full night since he was shot and he'd probably do well to not overdo it for his sake and hers, but still, an unease settled itself in his bones, urging him to keep moving instead of just remaining idle all this time. Part of his restlessness stemmed from pride, as a troll and as a former head threshecutioner. He was at the head of Alternia's most lethal unit, of course he was expected to go through worse than this and in some cases, quite literally, walk it right the fuck off and not let it hand his ass to him. Not to mention, this loaded survival work onto Terezi, a tinge of guilt worming it's way along the edge of his ego. Another part of it was necessity, instinct telling him to persist to keep ahead of their pursuers and not risk getting trapped here. Yet, eventually he had little other choice but to eventually slide down back against the rock again, tedious pacing taking it's toll and starting to raise a searing ache in his chest again. Sighing, he brought his knees up to his chest and let his head fall back against the wall, resigning to wait idly for his companion's return.

GC: Edging her way through the crack into the small cavern, she dropped the makeshift sac at his feet triumphantly, the sticks she gathered soon following but nearer the center of the cavern. "We can't keep a fire lit for very long because it's definitely going to smoke this place up, but if our food cooks fast enough, we won't need to keep it lit for more than a few minutes." She took to piling the sticks and surrounding them with small rocks, making sure the fire wouldn't spread as she set the pile aflame. "The food should tide us over for tonight. I'm sure you're starving." Giggling under her breath, she unwrapped the small woodland creatures, piercing them with one of the sticks that had remained unlit and holding them over the steady flames.

CG: Straightening up at her return, he pushed himself off of the rock to lean forward, crossing and tucking his legs underneath himself as she set up the fire. He flicked his eyes up at her, still in the process of putting away previous tangents of thought for another time, offering just a slight nod. "Guess you could say that, you'd be fucking astounded by how much blood loss can take out of a person," he remarked dryly, a sliver of humor in his tone to smooth over the bitter morbidity. Sniffing at the clouding stench of smoke and burning fur and flesh, he rolled his shoulders a little, then glancing back over at her and pausing, a lingering discomfort threatening to push words off of his tongue that were unwarranted and much too transparent in retrospect. Instead, he bit them down and redirected his attention elsewhere, dropping his gaze and settling on going over the previous night's events. Escape from the underground base, attack, arrow and all.

GC: Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "You think?" Turning her attention back to the crackling fire, her shoulders slumped as she cooked what they'd have to call their meal, a sigh escaping her lips. "You had me really worried. You still do, actually, but at least you're not dying." She offered him a laugh minus the humor, her thoughts wandering elsewhere. It was her fault he was hurt like this. She shouldn't have let him help her out of that dungeon. Then none of this ever would have happened and he'd still be safe. But if none of that ever happened, wouldn't that erase the events of the past few days? Clearing her head, she was careful not to burn the meat as she pulled the measly rodents away from the fire. At least they were somewhat plump.

CG: "Worried?" He cast a sideways glance back at her, his gaze lingering on her, attention drawn to the empty laugh and familiar exhaustion in her form, a tiredness stemming from guilt, partially anyway. It had been a long couple of nights for the both of them. Pursing his mouth, he shrugged slightly, preoccupying himself with nudging and rolling a handful of sticks next to each over to serve as a sort of "plate", just a half a step higher than the option of putting the food on the bare cave floor. He lined one last stick in place before retracting his hand, continuing with a dose of certainty complimented by a bit of reassurance. "You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine. You'd figure an ex-head threshecutioner can handle a fucking sharpened twig in his side." He offered the small twist of a wry smile, something to make the air between them lighter, less stale and the words easier to swallow.

GC: Letting air escape her nose in a display of minor amusement, she shook her head with a weak smile before glancing up at him. "You dumbass, that doesn't mean I won't worry about you." Her voice remained gentle as she placed the only food they had on his makeshift plate, shifting closer to share it with him. The fire felt nice against her cool skin, flickering in light lemon bursts against the dark charcoal of the cave walls. Her fingers fiddled with one of the charred rodents, her mind wandering as she preoccupied her hands.

CG: "Right, it means you shouldn't." The words leave an unexpected bitter taste in his mouth, like the willow leaves he had to down earlier, dry and crackling on his tongue and abruptly harsh in flavor, harsh enough to sober him up a little, so to speak. Letting a sigh ease its way out of his chest, he looked over at her, the tone to her form becoming more prominant to him. The exhaustion and musing managed to soften at his edges, just a little. He hunched in on himself a bit, his elbows digging into his legs as he made himself smaller. "But," he started, voice quieter than before, "I guess there's no helping it anyway. I was... kind of fucking scared myself, honestly." Pursing his mouth, a few particular matters crossed his mind before he leaned toward her slightly, reaching out, albeit tentatively, to pick up her hand and encase it in his. Before he could spend too much thought on this or she could say anything, he brushed a kiss to her lips, a shaky, unreliable something starting in his chest but being controlled and confined for now.

GC: Barely moving as he came closer, she let him kiss her, remaining relatively calm despite the speed at which her bloodpusher was pumping before returning the kiss, soft and sweet against his chapped lips. She gently let her thumb trace over the back of his hand, hoping the motion would be as soothing to him as it was to her. She didn't quite want to pull away, encased in the tenderness of the gesture, neither deepening the kiss nor breaking it. Though she did at first feel her stomach flip, it soon settled, replaced by a tingling warmth spreading to the tips of her ears. Letting out a relaxed sigh, she finally broke off the kiss, staying close and unmoving as she basked in the comfort of having him nearby.

CG: If it hadn't been for the combined efforts of her actually reciprocating the kiss and her thumb ghosting over the back of his hand, the unsteady bolt of energy of his chest would have broken past and encouraged him to pull away, a clumsy, disoriented apology already on his tongue though not quite ready. It allowed a tension in his shoulders and lungs to seep out of him, bit by bit, seconds passing and subduing a threatening alarm, letting him submerge himself as she had, if only for a moment. When she withdrew, he was actually not surprised yet somehow still relieved when she stayed near, a wordless acceptance permitting him to reach up with his free hand to cup the side of her face, tucking away a lock of hair and letting his thumb fall under the curve of her cheekbone as he rested his forehead lightly against hers, still lingering in the moment with her.

GC: Offering him the beginnings of a warm smile, she breathed in his scent, inhaling everything from the little details on his face she could make out to the gentle hand on her cheek. The moment between them seemed to hang suspended in the air for a while before she calmly pulled herself away and made herself busy with her food again. A smile fully broke across her flushing cheeks and she urged, "Eat up before it gets cold. You need at least some kind of sustenance so your body can heal properly." She shot him a furtive glance, a delight settled in her unseeing eyes as she moved to sit next to him, rodent in hand.

CG: Perhaps in retrospect he really shouldn't have been surprised by how she was seemingly taking this, right in stride and frustratingly calm, especially given prior half-naked cuddles in the pod that teetered too much between something pale and something flushed for the general well-being of his pan. It wasn't necessarily like he was expecting something out of his romcoms, or that he was expecting anything specific to start with, being too nervous and caught up in the moment to honestly. Still, her easy demeanor managed to throw him off and provide him with something he wasn't exactly prepared for that sealed him in a hesitant silence, incomplete dithering ready in his chute and stemming from a crowded mess of questions and tangents in his pan. Swallowing dryly, it took him a moment before he leaned back as well, picking up one of the creatures and taking to mindlessly nibbling on it while trying to sort out the absolute wreck of matters in his head that he uncomfortably linked to a younger self's line of thought. She hadn't rejected it...? Whatever it was, anyway, so... that was something? She actually seemed pretty at peace, content even, so that was good. Maybe she had been expecting this? What did she even _take_ this as though? Flushed? Pale? Heat of the moment? Hello quadrant-related distress, you have not been missed. Actually, help yourself to a healthy slice of sincere "fuck you", you may join old 6 sweep flush crushes on the luxurious, 100% sharp objects couch.

GC: Taking few bites out of her own charred creature, it wasn't long before she found her head tilting to rest on his shoulder. It was nice just being able to sit with him like this, all her thoughts focused on him as she relaxed, eating in silence. She was, however, rather surprised that he hadn't said anything. Knowing Karkat, he'd probably be either mentally berating himself or just confused over all. The way things were going, she'd probably have to initiate conversation. Not just yet though. She was fully prepared to enjoy the moment and drag it out for as long as she could. Absentmindedly munching on her somewhat delicious meal, she shifted so her body was pressed against his, relaxing into an affection position that she hoped displayed her trust. After all, if she'd done this with anyone else who wasn't a close friend - and hell if she were considering him a friend right now - she could easily have been killed. It would only take one swift movement. Not really an ideal date. She finished up her rodent, tossing the bones into the flame as she let her eyes flutter shut. "Karkat..."

CG: Forced mouthfuls of unidentified woodland rodent proved very unhelpful in regards to his acidic digestive storage sac that was periodically twisting itself into knots and balling itself up to start with, yanking on his protein chute and making it all the harder to start to form words again. The objective of getting back to the point where he could say something coherent and sensible was hindered and eventually abandoned due to frequent thoughts of how she no doubt noticed his uncharacteristic quiet but hadn't said anything, instead vouching to actually get closer to him and easily make herself comfortable... which subsequently made him even more uncomfortable somehow. It was as soothing as it was doubly confusing and borderline worrying as her pleasant demeanor was when she had first pulled away from the kiss, encouraging a struggle in replying to her finally breaking the silence between them. Clearing his throat as a precaution, he forced himself to ease up a little before chancing his squawkblister, pushing away the stillness of his form by likewise tossing the remaining scraps and bones of his meal into the fire and settling back into his spot. "Um, yeah?"

GC: "Did you mean it?" The words left her lips simply and without hesitation as she kept still next to him. Though she needed nothing more than a yes or no answer, knowing Karkat, he'd probably start babbling about what exactly it had meant. She refrained from sighing as her guts twisted inside her, trying to make her nervous, but she simply refused to appear as such and so she blocked the feeling out. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps her calm attitude was freaking her companion out, but she paid it no mind, a weight settling on her chest as she anticipated his answer. She cleared her head, deciding that if he'd said it was a spur of the moment kind of thing or just flat out rejected her, she would say nothing about it and carry on as normal. It was all she could do.

CG: It was incredibly difficult to not go into a tirade, complete with a thesis surrounding how he felt about the gesture, how he was damn sure he had meant it and he wouldn't have went through with it if he wasn't entirely sure of his feelings of course, and the only thing he was confused about was how she felt about it herself. But... that wasn't quite true. He wanted it to be though, the familiar ache of sweeps old feelings surplused and renewed by the past few nights _really_ wanted him to be able to say yes and rant about it in confidence. Sense and her words had other ideas however. He managed to bite his protein flapper, taking a step back and going over recent events, from saving his best friend from a promised execution, living on the run, being questionably close physically and personally with said best friend throughout various setups and escapades, to having his best friend save his sorry ass... All in all, very stressful, emotionally taxing occurrences compressed into a relatively short timespan, right? Right. Something even more sour than the willow leaves and his earlier outburst combined settling itself on his tongue, he fell into a bitter silence, a tension twisting the line of his mouth though his shoulders became slack. No, he wasn't sure about any of this shit, regardless of how many sweeps had passed since he was involved in this kind of situation and how he had convinced himself that as an adult he finally had it figured, and he sure as hell wasn't pulling a six sweep old Karkat Vantas and fucking up legacy-worthy monumentally. Especially not with her (more than he had already anyway).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're welcome for making it happen


	16. HIATUS

hey guys, tatalati here  
essentially, escapestuck is going on hiatus for a really long time  
a lot of our logs that we had saved were lost when msparp crashed last year

instead, we've decided to rewrite the fanfiction with our full potential (we werent originally going to share this on ao3 so its kinda half assed)  
hopefully i'll be able to post the new and improved version soon

til then, hang tight!


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